Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc (NASDAQ:JOSB) investors should pay attention to a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money in recent months.
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are plenty of gauges investors can use to watch the equity markets. Two of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can beat the market by a superb amount (see just how much).
Equally as integral, positive insider trading activity is another way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are lots of stimuli for a corporate insider to sell 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 valuable potential of this strategy if piggybackers know what to do (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, let’s take a gander at the key action surrounding Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc (NASDAQ:JOSB).
How are hedge funds trading Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc (NASDAQ:JOSB)?
In preparation for this year, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -25% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.
Of the funds we track, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the most valuable position in Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc (NASDAQ:JOSB). Royce & Associates has a $127.6 million position in the stock, comprising 0.4% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is David Gallo of Valinor Management LLC, with a $54.9 million position; the fund has 2.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds with similar optimism include Martin Whitman’s Third Avenue Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Matthew Lindenbaum’s Basswood Capital.
Judging by the fact that Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc (NASDAQ:JOSB) has faced a declination in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, we can see that there lies a certain “tier” of money managers who were dropping their full holdings in Q4. Interestingly, Alexander Mitchell’s Scopus Asset Management dropped the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds we key on, valued at an estimated $15.6 million in stock., and Geoffrey S. McCuskey of Riverside Advisors was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $3 million worth. These moves are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 3 funds in Q4.
How have insiders been trading Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc (NASDAQ:JOSB)?
Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time period, Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc (NASDAQ:JOSB) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, 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 Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc (NASDAQ:JOSB). These stocks are Genesco Inc. (NYSE:GCO), Ann Inc (NYSE:ANN), The Jones Group Inc. (NYSE:JNY), Children’s Place Retail Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLCE), and Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE:ARO). This group of stocks are the members of the apparel stores industry and their market caps resemble JOSB’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Genesco Inc. (NYSE:GCO) | 14 | 0 | 3 |
| Ann Inc (NYSE:ANN) | 20 | 1 | 2 |
| The Jones Group Inc. (NYSE:JNY) | 13 | 0 | 3 |
| Children’s Place Retail Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLCE) | 18 | 1 | 3 |
| Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE:ARO) | 27 | 0 | 0 |
With the results demonstrated by the aforementioned research, retail investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc (NASDAQ:JOSB) applies perfectly to this mantra.
