Burger King Worldwide Inc (NYSE:BKW) was in 15 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. BKW shareholders have witnessed an increase in hedge fund interest in recent months. There were 11 hedge funds in our database with BKW positions at the end of the previous quarter.
In the eyes of most stock holders, hedge funds are perceived as worthless, outdated investment tools of yesteryear. While there are over 8000 funds in operation at present, we choose to focus on the leaders of this group, close to 450 funds. It is estimated that this group oversees most of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by watching their highest performing equity investments, we have determined a number of investment strategies that have historically beaten the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points a year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have trumped the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (see all of our picks from August).
Equally as key, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the financial markets. Obviously, there are plenty of reasons for an upper level exec to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if you know what to do (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, let’s take a glance at the key action surrounding Burger King Worldwide Inc (NYSE:BKW).
How have hedgies been trading Burger King Worldwide Inc (NYSE:BKW)?
In preparation for this quarter, a total of 15 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 36% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Pershing Square, managed by Bill Ackman, holds the biggest position in Burger King Worldwide Inc (NYSE:BKW). Pershing Square has a $732.9 million position in the stock, comprising 7.3% of its 13F portfolio. On Pershing Square’s heels is Tiger Global Management LLC, managed by Chase Coleman and Feroz Dewan, which held a $137.5 million position; 2.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other peers that hold long positions include J Kevin Kenny Jr’s Emerging Sovereign Group, Brian J. Higgins’s King Street Capital and Eliav Assouline and Marc Andersen’s Axial Capital.
Now, key money managers have jumped into Burger King Worldwide Inc (NYSE:BKW) headfirst. King Street Capital, managed by Brian J. Higgins, established the biggest position in Burger King Worldwide Inc (NYSE:BKW). King Street Capital had 13.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jeffrey Jon Berney’s TriOaks Capital Management also made a $5.4 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new BKW investors: D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Ben Levine, Andrew Manuel and Stefan Renold’s LMR Partners, and Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors.
What have insiders been doing with Burger King Worldwide Inc (NYSE:BKW)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time frame, Burger King Worldwide Inc (NYSE:BKW) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Burger King Worldwide Inc (NYSE:BKW). These stocks are Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ), Dunkin Brands Group Inc (NASDAQ:DNKN), Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG), Tim Hortons Inc. (USA) (NYSE:THI), and Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI). This group of stocks are in the restaurants industry and their market caps match BKW’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ) | 23 | 0 | 3 |
| Dunkin Brands Group Inc (NASDAQ:DNKN) | 20 | 0 | 9 |
| Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) | 25 | 0 | 3 |
| Tim Hortons Inc. (USA) (NYSE:THI) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) | 18 | 1 | 2 |
With the results demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s tactics, retail investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Burger King Worldwide Inc (NYSE:BKW) is an important part of this process.
