In today’s marketplace, there are tons of methods shareholders can use to watch stocks. A couple of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite fund managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a superb margin (see just how much).
Just as necessary, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to analyze the financial markets. Just as you’d expect, there are a variety of motivations for an insider to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if investors understand what to do (learn more here).
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s discuss the newest info surrounding Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (NYSE:PIR).
How are hedge funds trading Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (NYSE:PIR)?
In preparation for the third quarter, a total of 18 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 13% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly.
According to our 13F database, Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors had the largest position in Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (NYSE:PIR), worth close to $68.6 million, accounting for 0.6% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Patrick McCormack of Tiger Consumer Management, with a $54.4 million position; 1.9% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish include Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.
As aggregate interest spiked, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Columbus Circle Investors, managed by Donald Chiboucis, assembled the biggest position in Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (NYSE:PIR). Columbus Circle Investors had 68.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Patrick McCormack’s Tiger Consumer Management also made a $54.4 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.
How have insiders been trading Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (NYSE:PIR)?
Insider buying made by high-level executives is best served when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time period, Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (NYSE:PIR) 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 Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (NYSE:PIR). These stocks are Gordmans Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:GMAN), Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ:BBBY), Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. (NYSE:HVT), Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM), and Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc (NYSE:RH). This group of stocks are the members of the home furnishing stores industry and their market caps are closest to PIR’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Gordmans Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:GMAN) | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ:BBBY) | 33 | 0 | 0 |
| Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. (NYSE:HVT) | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc (NYSE:RH) | 15 | 0 | 0 |
Using the results shown by Insider Monkey’s tactics, regular investors should always keep one eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (NYSE:PIR) is an important part of this process.
