Hedge Funds Are Crazy About Bob Evans Farms Inc (BOBE)

Bob Evans Farms Inc (NASDAQ:BOBE) was in 10 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. BOBE has experienced an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers in recent months. There were 7 hedge funds in our database with BOBE positions at the end of the previous quarter.

At the moment, there are tons of gauges investors can use to analyze publicly traded companies. Some of the best are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best money managers can outpace the broader indices by a healthy margin (see just how much).

Just as integral, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the financial markets. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of incentives for an upper level exec to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if shareholders understand what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a peek at the key action encompassing Bob Evans Farms Inc (NASDAQ:BOBE).

How have hedgies been trading Bob Evans Farms Inc (NASDAQ:BOBE)?

Heading into Q2, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 43% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes meaningfully.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the largest position in Bob Evans Farms Inc (NASDAQ:BOBE), worth close to $19.4 million, accounting for 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Cardinal Capital, managed by Amy Minella, which held a $12.7 million position; the fund has 0.8% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds that hold long positions include John W. Rogers’s Ariel Investments, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

As aggregate interest increased, key money managers have jumped into Bob Evans Farms Inc (NASDAQ:BOBE) headfirst. Cardinal Capital, managed by Amy Minella, created the most valuable position in Bob Evans Farms Inc (NASDAQ:BOBE). Cardinal Capital had 12.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also made a $7.4 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new BOBE investors: D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management, and David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments.

What have insiders been doing with Bob Evans Farms Inc (NASDAQ:BOBE)?

Insider buying is best served when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time frame, Bob Evans Farms Inc (NASDAQ:BOBE) has experienced 2 unique insiders buying, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Bob Evans Farms Inc (NASDAQ:BOBE). These stocks are Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK), Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (NYSE:KKD), Texas Roadhouse Inc (NASDAQ:TXRH), Papa John’s Int’l, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA), and DineEquity Inc (NYSE:DIN). This group of stocks belong to the restaurants industry and their market caps match BOBE’s market cap.