Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Kirkland’s, Inc. (KIRK)

Kirkland’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:KIRK) was in 12 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. KIRK investors should be aware of an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers recently. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with KIRK positions at the end of the previous quarter.

To the average investor, there are a multitude of methods market participants can use to watch publicly traded companies. A duo of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top investment managers can outperform their index-focused peers by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are many stimuli for an insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if investors know what to do (learn more here).

Now, we’re going to take a glance at the recent action surrounding Kirkland’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:KIRK).

What does the smart money think about Kirkland’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:KIRK)?

Heading into Q2, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 33% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly.

Of the funds we track, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the largest position in Kirkland’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:KIRK), worth close to $13.5 million, comprising less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Highbridge Capital Management, managed by Glenn Russell Dubin, which held a $2.3 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that hold long positions include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors and Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors.

Consequently, key hedge funds have jumped into Kirkland’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:KIRK) headfirst. Highbridge Capital Management, managed by Glenn Russell Dubin, established the most valuable position in Kirkland’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:KIRK). Highbridge Capital Management had 2.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also initiated a $1.1 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new KIRK investors: Mike Vranos’s Ellington, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.

Insider trading activity in Kirkland’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:KIRK)

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time frame, Kirkland’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:KIRK) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Kirkland’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:KIRK). These stocks are Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM), Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (NYSE:PIR), Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc (NYSE:RH), Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. (NYSE:HVT), and Gordmans Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:GMAN). All of these stocks are in the home furnishing stores industry and their market caps match KIRK’s market cap.

With the results shown by Insider Monkey’s research, retail investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Kirkland’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:KIRK) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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