Should You Buy John Bean Technologies Corporation (JBT)?

Is John Bean Technologies Corporation (NYSE:JBT) a healthy stock for your portfolio? Hedge funds are getting more bullish. The number of bullish hedge fund bets increased by 3 in recent months.

To the average investor, there are tons of gauges shareholders can use to analyze publicly traded companies. A couple of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top fund managers can trounce the market by a significant amount (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, positive insider trading activity is another way to parse down the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of reasons for an insider to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Several academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if you understand what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, we’re going to take a peek at the key action surrounding John Bean Technologies Corporation (NYSE:JBT).

What have hedge funds been doing with John Bean Technologies Corporation (NYSE:JBT)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 15 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 25% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably.

Of the funds we track, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the largest position in John Bean Technologies Corporation (NYSE:JBT). Royce & Associates has a $8 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Israel Englander of Millennium Management, with a $3.8 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that are bullish include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

Consequently, specific money managers have jumped into John Bean Technologies Corporation (NYSE:JBT) headfirst. Hutchin Hill Capital, managed by Neil Chriss, initiated the biggest position in John Bean Technologies Corporation (NYSE:JBT). Hutchin Hill Capital had 0.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors also initiated a $0.5 million position during the quarter. The only other fund with a brand new JBT position is Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about John Bean Technologies Corporation (NYSE:JBT)?

Bullish insider trading is best served when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time period, John Bean Technologies Corporation (NYSE:JBT) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the returns exhibited by our studies, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and John Bean Technologies Corporation (NYSE:JBT) is no exception.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds