Is Dunkin Brands Group Inc (DNKN) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

Dunkin Brands Group Inc (NASDAQ:DNKN) has seen a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers in recent months.

In today’s marketplace, there are a multitude of metrics investors can use to monitor stocks. A duo of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best hedge fund managers can outperform the market by a solid amount (see just how much).

Just as important, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. Just as you’d expect, there are many reasons for a corporate insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if investors understand where to look (learn more here).

Now, we’re going to take a glance at the recent action regarding Dunkin Brands Group Inc (NASDAQ:DNKN).

What have hedge funds been doing with Dunkin Brands Group Inc (NASDAQ:DNKN)?

Heading into Q2, a total of 20 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -13% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully.

According to our comprehensive database, Brett Barakett’s Tremblant Capital had the largest position in Dunkin Brands Group Inc (NASDAQ:DNKN), worth close to $61.8 million, comprising 2.9% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Rob Citrone of Discovery Capital Management, with a $49.3 million position; the fund has 0.7% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies with similar optimism include Panayotis Takis Sparaggis’s Alkeon Capital Management, Roberto Mignone’s Bridger Management and Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management.

Seeing as Dunkin Brands Group Inc (NASDAQ:DNKN) has experienced falling interest from the smart money, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few funds that slashed their positions entirely in Q1. Intriguingly, Doug Silverman and Alexander Klabin’s Senator Investment Group dropped the biggest position of the “upper crust” of funds we watch, valued at about $33.3 million in stock.. Charles Davidson’s fund, Wexford Capital, also said goodbye to its stock, about $12.2 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 3 funds in Q1.

How are insiders trading Dunkin Brands Group Inc (NASDAQ:DNKN)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Dunkin Brands Group Inc (NASDAQ:DNKN) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 9 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Dunkin Brands Group Inc (NASDAQ:DNKN). These stocks are Burger King Worldwide Inc (NYSE:BKW), Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI), Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT), Arcos Dorados Holding Inc (NYSE:ARCO), and Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ). This group of stocks are in the restaurants industry and their market caps match DNKN’s market cap.

With the results demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s tactics, retail investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Dunkin Brands Group Inc (NASDAQ:DNKN) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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