Hedge Funds Are Buying Cal-Maine Foods Inc (CALM)

In today’s marketplace, there are dozens of gauges investors can use to track stocks. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top money managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a significant amount (see just how much).

Just as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to look at the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are a number of motivations for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if investors know where to look (learn more here).

Thus, we’re going to study the latest info surrounding Cal-Maine Foods Inc (NASDAQ:CALM).

How have hedgies been trading Cal-Maine Foods Inc (NASDAQ:CALM)?

Heading into Q3, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 11% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.

Out of the hedge funds we follow, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the largest position in Cal-Maine Foods Inc (NASDAQ:CALM). Royce & Associates has a $107.7 million position in the stock, comprising 0.3% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Martin Whitman of Third Avenue Management, with a $25.6 million position; the fund has 0.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers with similar optimism include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors.

As aggregate interest spiked, particular hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, assembled the biggest position in Cal-Maine Foods Inc (NASDAQ:CALM). Royce & Associates had 107.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Martin Whitman’s Third Avenue Management also made a $25.6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new CALM investors: Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, and Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors.

What have insiders been doing with Cal-Maine Foods Inc (NASDAQ:CALM)?

Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last six-month time period, Cal-Maine Foods Inc (NASDAQ:CALM) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll also take a look at the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Cal-Maine Foods Inc (NASDAQ:CALM). These stocks are Lancaster Colony Corp. (NASDAQ:LANC), Annies Inc (NYSE:BNNY), Post Holdings Inc (NYSE:POST), Sanderson Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFM), and Dole Food Company, Inc. (NYSE:DOLE). This group of stocks are in the food – major diversified industry and their market caps are similar to CALM’s market cap.