Stage Stores Inc (NYSE:SSI) has experienced an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds lately.
In the financial world, there are tons of metrics market participants can use to track their holdings. Some of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top investment managers can beat their index-focused peers by a superb amount (see just how much).
Equally as important, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the financial markets. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of stimuli for a bullish insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Several academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if you understand where to look (learn more here).
Consequently, it’s important to take a peek at the latest action regarding Stage Stores Inc (NYSE:SSI).
How are hedge funds trading Stage Stores Inc (NYSE:SSI)?
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 18 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 6% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly.
When looking at the hedgies we track, SAC Capital Advisors, managed by Steven Cohen, holds the largest position in Stage Stores Inc (NYSE:SSI). SAC Capital Advisors has a $50.2 million position in the stock, comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Adage Capital Management, managed by Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson, which held a $31.1 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedgies that are bullish include Mark Broach’s Manatuck Hill Partners, David Keidan’s Buckingham Capital Management and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.
With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, specific money managers have jumped into Stage Stores Inc (NYSE:SSI) headfirst. Adage Capital Management, managed by Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson, initiated the most outsized position in Stage Stores Inc (NYSE:SSI). Adage Capital Management had 31.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies also made a $3.3 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new SSI positions are SAC Subsidiary’s CR Intrinsic Investors, David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments, and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about Stage Stores Inc (NYSE:SSI)?
Bullish insider trading is best served when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time period, Stage Stores Inc (NYSE:SSI) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Stage Stores Inc (NYSE:SSI). These stocks are Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE:ARO), Children’s Place Retail Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLCE), The Jones Group Inc. (NYSE:JNY), rue21, inc. (NASDAQ:RUE), and Cato Corp (NYSE:CATO). This group of stocks are the members of the apparel stores industry and their market caps match SSI’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE:ARO) | 20 | 0 | 1 |
| Children’s Place Retail Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLCE) | 19 | 0 | 5 |
| The Jones Group Inc. (NYSE:JNY) | 12 | 0 | 3 |
| rue21, inc. (NASDAQ:RUE) | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Cato Corp (NYSE:CATO) | 7 | 1 | 0 |
With the returns exhibited by our tactics, everyday investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Stage Stores Inc (NYSE:SSI) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
