Is Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) a splendid investment right now? Hedge funds are turning bullish. The number of long hedge fund positions improved by 1 in recent months.
At the moment, there are plenty of metrics investors can use to track Mr. Market. A duo of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite hedge fund managers can beat the S&P 500 by a healthy margin (see just how much).
Just as important, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the financial markets. Just as you’d expect, there are a number of reasons for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).
Now, let’s take a look at the key action regarding Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT).
What have hedge funds been doing with Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 17 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 6% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully.
Of the funds we track, Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, holds the most valuable position in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT). Citadel Investment Group has a $142 million position in the stock, comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Fisher Asset Management, managed by Ken Fisher, which held a $53 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers with similar optimism include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, David Dreman’s Dreman Value Management and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.
Now, specific money managers have jumped into Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) headfirst. CR Intrinsic Investors, managed by SAC Subsidiary, created the largest position in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT). CR Intrinsic Investors had 12 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Gray and Steve Walsh’s Bryn Mawr Capital also made a $6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Mark Kingdon’s Kingdon Capital, Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital, and Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp.
What have insiders been doing with Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT)?
Insider buying is most useful when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time frame, Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) has experienced 1 unique insiders purchasing, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the results shown by Insider Monkey’s studies, everyday investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) applies perfectly to this mantra.
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