Should You Buy CNH Global NV (ADR) (CNH)?

CNH Global NV (ADR) (NYSE:CNH) was in 23 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. CNH shareholders have witnessed an increase in hedge fund sentiment of late. There were 13 hedge funds in our database with CNH holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are plenty of methods shareholders can use to analyze stocks. A couple of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top money managers can outpace the S&P 500 by a superb margin (see just how much).

Equally as integral, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the marketplace. There are a number of reasons for a corporate insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if investors know what to do (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, we’re going to take a peek at the latest action surrounding CNH Global NV (ADR) (NYSE:CNH).

Hedge fund activity in CNH Global NV (ADR) (NYSE:CNH)

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 23 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 77% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes substantially.

Of the funds we track, GAMCO Investors, managed by Mario Gabelli, holds the largest position in CNH Global NV (ADR) (NYSE:CNH). GAMCO Investors has a $83.2 million position in the stock, comprising 0.5% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Southeastern Asset Management, managed by Mason Hawkins, which held a $78.1 million position; 0.4% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other peers with similar optimism include Shane Finemore’s Manikay Partners, Joe DiMenna’s ZWEIG DIMENNA PARTNERS and Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital.

As industrywide interest jumped, key hedge funds have jumped into CNH Global NV (ADR) (NYSE:CNH) headfirst. ZWEIG DIMENNA PARTNERS, managed by Joe DiMenna, assembled the biggest position in CNH Global NV (ADR) (NYSE:CNH). ZWEIG DIMENNA PARTNERS had 20.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jim Chanos’s Kynikos also made a $11.3 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Joshua Berkowitz’s Woodbine Capital, Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital, and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.

What have insiders been doing with CNH Global NV (ADR) (NYSE:CNH)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time period, CNH Global NV (ADR) (NYSE:CNH) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to CNH Global NV (ADR) (NYSE:CNH). These stocks are Manitowoc Company, Inc. (NYSE:MTW), Deere & Company (NYSE:DE), Terex Corporation (NYSE:TEX), AGCO Corporation (NYSE:AGCO), and Joy Global Inc. (NYSE:JOY). This group of stocks belong to the farm & construction machinery industry and their market caps match CNH’s market cap.