Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Christopher & Banks Corporation (CBK)

Is Christopher & Banks Corporation (NYSE:CBK) worth your attention right now? Money managers are getting more optimistic. The number of long hedge fund bets rose by 2 lately.

To the average investor, there are many gauges investors can use to analyze stocks. Two 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 hedge fund managers can outclass their index-focused peers by a solid margin (see just how much).

Equally as important, positive insider trading activity is another way to break down the investments you’re interested in. As the old adage goes: there are a number of reasons for an executive to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if you understand where to look (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a gander at the key action encompassing Christopher & Banks Corporation (NYSE:CBK).

What have hedge funds been doing with Christopher & Banks Corporation (NYSE:CBK)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 15 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 15% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully.

According to our comprehensive database, Remy Trafelet’s Trafelet Capital had the largest position in Christopher & Banks Corporation (NYSE:CBK), worth close to $20.9 million, comprising 11.8% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Thomas Ellis and Todd Hammer of North Run Capital, with a $12.9 million position; the fund has 1.6% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies that are bullish include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Charles Davidson’s Wexford Capital.

Consequently, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. SG Capital Management, managed by Ken Grossman and Glen Schneider, assembled the most valuable position in Christopher & Banks Corporation (NYSE:CBK). SG Capital Management had 0.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. J. Alan Reid, Jr.’s Forward Management also initiated a $0.5 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new CBK positions are Mike Vranos’s Ellington, Jeffrey Vinik’s Vinik Asset Management, and Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital.

What have insiders been doing with Christopher & Banks Corporation (NYSE:CBK)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last six-month time frame, Christopher & Banks Corporation (NYSE:CBK) has experienced 6 unique insiders buying, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Christopher & Banks Corporation (NYSE:CBK). These stocks are bebe stores, inc. (NASDAQ:BEBE), Destination Maternity Corp (NASDAQ:DEST), The Wet Seal, Inc. (NASDAQ:WTSL), New York & Company, Inc. (NYSE:NWY), and Destination XL Group Inc (NASDAQ:DXLG). All of these stocks are in the apparel stores industry and their market caps resemble CBK’s market cap.