New York & Company, Inc. (NWY): Hedge Funds Are Bullish and Insiders Are Undecided, What Should You Do?

In the financial world, there are dozens of gauges market participants can use to watch their holdings. A couple of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top fund managers can outperform their index-focused peers by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Equally as useful, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to analyze the marketplace. There are a variety of incentives for an executive to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if shareholders know where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, let’s analyze the recent info about New York & Company, Inc. (NYSE:NWY).

What have hedge funds been doing with New York & Company, Inc. (NYSE:NWY)?

At the end of the second quarter, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 38% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.

When using filings from the hedgies we track, North Run Capital, managed by Thomas Ellis and Todd Hammer, holds the biggest position in New York & Company, Inc. (NYSE:NWY). North Run Capital has a $31.8 million position in the stock, comprising 3.7% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is J. Carlo Cannell of Cannell Capital, with a $7.5 million position; 4.4% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other peers that are bullish include Peter S. Park’s Park West Asset Management, Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

Consequently, specific money managers have jumped into New York & Company, Inc. (NYSE:NWY) headfirst. North Run Capital, managed by Thomas Ellis and Todd Hammer, established the most valuable position in New York & Company, Inc. (NYSE:NWY). North Run Capital had 31.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. J. Carlo Cannell’s Cannell Capital also made a $7.5 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new NWY positions are Peter S. Park’s Park West Asset Management, Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital, and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about New York & Company, Inc. (NYSE:NWY)?

Bullish insider trading is best served when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time period, New York & Company, Inc. (NYSE:NWY) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll also review the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to New York & Company, Inc. (NYSE:NWY). These stocks are bebe stores, inc. (NASDAQ:BEBE), Destination Maternity Corp (NASDAQ:DEST), Christopher & Banks Corporation (NYSE:CBK), The Wet Seal, Inc. (NASDAQ:WTSL), and Destination XL Group Inc (NASDAQ:DXLG). This group of stocks are in the apparel stores industry and their market caps are closest to NWY’s market cap.