Is Intermec Inc. (NYSE:IN) a superb stock to buy now? Money managers are in a bullish mood. The number of long hedge fund positions moved up by 6 recently.
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are dozens of methods market participants can use to monitor Mr. Market. Two of the best are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite hedge fund managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a significant margin (see just how much).
Equally as beneficial, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the stock market universe. There are plenty of incentives for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Many academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).
Now, let’s take a look at the recent action encompassing Intermec Inc. (NYSE:IN).
How are hedge funds trading Intermec Inc. (NYSE:IN)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 100% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.
Of the funds we track, GAMCO Investors, managed by Mario Gabelli, holds the biggest position in Intermec Inc. (NYSE:IN). GAMCO Investors has a $57.6 million position in the stock, comprising 0.4% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, which held a $34 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedge funds that hold long positions include Robert Emil Zoellner’s Alpine Associates, Paul Glazer’s Glazer Capital and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.
As industrywide interest jumped, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. Alpine Associates, managed by Robert Emil Zoellner, established the most valuable position in Intermec Inc. (NYSE:IN). Alpine Associates had 7.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Paul Glazer’s Glazer Capital also made a $5 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new IN positions are D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors, and Paul Touradji’s TOURADJI CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LP.
Insider trading activity in Intermec Inc. (NYSE:IN)
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the company in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time frame, Intermec Inc. (NYSE:IN) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Intermec Inc. (NYSE:IN). These stocks are Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ:PANL), Synaptics, Incorporated (NASDAQ:SYNA), Logitech International SA (USA) (NASDAQ:LOGI), Electronics For Imaging, Inc. (NASDAQ:EFII), and Immersion Corporation (NASDAQ:IMMR). This group of stocks are the members of the computer peripherals industry and their market caps resemble IN’s market cap.
