Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Furniture Brands International, Inc. (FBN)

Furniture Brands International, Inc. (NYSE:FBN) was in 8 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. FBN investors should be aware of a decrease in hedge fund interest lately. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with FBN positions at the end of the previous quarter.

In the financial world, there are many gauges market participants can use to monitor their holdings. Some of the best are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top hedge fund managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a very impressive margin (see just how much).

Just as key, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the stock market universe. There are plenty of reasons for an executive to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a peek at the recent action surrounding Furniture Brands International, Inc. (NYSE:FBN).

How have hedgies been trading Furniture Brands International, Inc. (NYSE:FBN)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -11% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably.

Of the funds we track, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the most valuable position in Furniture Brands International, Inc. (NYSE:FBN), worth close to $4 million, accounting for less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Oaktree Capital Management, managed by Howard Marks, which held a $2.6 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers with similar optimism include Phil Frohlich’s Prescott Group Capital Management, Richard L. Haydon’s Yield Capital Partners (Y/Cap Management) and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

Due to the fact that Furniture Brands International, Inc. (NYSE:FBN) has witnessed falling interest from hedge fund managers, logic holds that there was a specific group of hedge funds that elected to cut their positions entirely heading into Q2. It’s worth mentioning that John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors said goodbye to the biggest investment of all the hedgies we key on, totaling about $0 million in stock. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds heading into Q2.

Insider trading activity in Furniture Brands International, Inc. (NYSE:FBN)

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time frame, Furniture Brands International, Inc. (NYSE:FBN) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Furniture Brands International, Inc. (NYSE:FBN). These stocks are Flexsteel Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLXS), Bassett Furniture Industries Inc. (NASDAQ:BSET), Hooker Furniture Corporation (NASDAQ:HOFT), Natuzzi, S.p.A (ADR) (NYSE:NTZ), and Stanley Furniture Co. (NASDAQ:STLY). All of these stocks are in the home furnishings & fixtures industry and their market caps resemble FBN’s market cap.

With the returns exhibited by Insider Monkey’s research, everyday investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Furniture Brands International, Inc. (NYSE:FBN) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds