Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG) has experienced an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds recently.
In today’s marketplace, there are plenty of methods market participants can use to analyze publicly traded companies. Two of the best are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite fund managers can outclass the market by a very impressive amount (see just how much).
Equally as important, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the marketplace. Just as you’d expect, there are a variety of stimuli for a bullish insider to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Several academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if shareholders understand where to look (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a gander at the recent action encompassing Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG).
What does the smart money think about Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG)?
At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 19 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 6% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.
According to our comprehensive database, Scopia Capital, managed by Matt Sirovich and Jeremy Mindich, holds the biggest position in Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG). Scopia Capital has a $111 million position in the stock, comprising 4.5% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by ESL Investments, managed by Edward Lampert, which held a $41 million position; the fund has 1.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, and David Harding’s Winton Capital Management.
As industrywide interest jumped, key money managers have jumped into Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG) headfirst. Scopia Capital, managed by Matt Sirovich and Jeremy Mindich, created the largest position in Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG). Scopia Capital had 111 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Lykouretzos’s Hoplite Capital Management also initiated a $23 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new BIG investors: Barry Rosenstein’s JANA Partners, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, and David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments.
How are insiders trading Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG)?
Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time frame, Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the results shown by the aforementioned studies, everyday investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG) is an important part of this process.
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