If you were to ask many market players, hedge funds are perceived as overrated, outdated investment vehicles of a forgotten age. Although there are In excess of 8,000 hedge funds trading in present day, this site aim at the crème de la crème of this group, around 525 funds. Analysts calculate that this group controls most of all hedge funds’ total assets, and by watching their highest quality stock picks, we’ve unearthed a number of investment strategies that have historically outstripped the S&P 500. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outclassed the S&P 500 index by 33 percentage points in 11 months (explore the details and some picks here).
Just as necessary, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to analyze the stock market universe. As the old adage goes: there are lots of incentives for an insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).
What’s more, it’s important to examine the newest info about Stericycle Inc (NASDAQ:SRCL).
How have hedgies been trading Stericycle Inc (NASDAQ:SRCL)?
Heading into Q3, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -28% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.
According to our 13F database, Ian Simm’s Impax Asset Management had the largest position in Stericycle Inc (NASDAQ:SRCL), worth close to $25.5 million, accounting for 3.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $20.6 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds that are bullish include Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, Andrew Sandler’s Sandler Capital Management and Bruce Kovner’s Caxton Associates LP.
Because Stericycle Inc (NASDAQ:SRCL) has witnessed bearish sentiment from upper-tier hedge fund managers, we can see that there was a specific group of hedge funds that decided to sell off their entire stakes in Q1. Intriguingly, Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital cut the biggest position of the 450+ funds we key on, worth close to $11.1 million in stock. D. E. Shaw’s fund, D E Shaw, also said goodbye to its stock, about $8.7 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 5 funds in Q1.
How are insiders trading Stericycle Inc (NASDAQ:SRCL)?
Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time frame, Stericycle Inc (NASDAQ:SRCL) has seen 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 Stericycle Inc (NASDAQ:SRCL). These stocks are Clean Harbors Inc (NYSE:CLH), Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN), Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM), Veolia Environnement SA (ADR) (NYSE:VE), and Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG). This group of stocks are the members of the waste management industry and their market caps match SRCL’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Clean Harbors Inc (NYSE:CLH) | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| Veolia Environnement SA (ADR) (NYSE:VE) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) | 25 | 0 | 0 |
Using the results demonstrated by our strategies, average investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Stericycle Inc (NASDAQ:SRCL) is no exception.
