Littelfuse, Inc. (LFUS): Hedge Funds Are Bullish and Insiders Are Bearish, What Should You Do?

Is Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS) a buy right now? Hedge funds are taking a bullish view. The number of long hedge fund bets moved up by 4 in recent months.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are tons of indicators market participants can use to analyze the equity markets. A duo 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 outclass the market by a superb amount (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. There are many stimuli for a bullish insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

Now, let’s take a look at the key action surrounding Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS).

How have hedgies been trading Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 40% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly.

Of the funds we track, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the largest position in Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS). Royce & Associates has a $167.2 million position in the stock, comprising 0.5% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Ariel Investments, managed by John W. Rogers, which held a $71.5 million position; 1.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other peers that hold long positions include Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.

As industrywide interest jumped, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Fisher Asset Management, managed by Ken Fisher, assembled the most valuable position in Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS). Fisher Asset Management had 3.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies also made a $3.4 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new LFUS investors: Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management, and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

Insider trading activity in Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS)

Bullish insider trading is best served when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time period, Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 12 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS). These stocks are EnerSys (NYSE:ENS), GrafTech International Ltd (NYSE:GTI), General Cable Corporation (NYSE:BGC), OSI Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSIS), and Franklin Electric Co. (NASDAQ:FELE). All of these stocks are in the industrial electrical equipment industry and their market caps are closest to LFUS’s market cap.

With the returns exhibited by the aforementioned research, everyday investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS) is no exception.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds