Signet Jewelers Ltd. (NYSE:SIG) was in 25 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. SIG has experienced a decrease in hedge fund sentiment of late. There were 25 hedge funds in our database with SIG holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
At the moment, there are plenty of gauges shareholders can use to analyze the equity markets. A duo of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite money managers can beat the S&P 500 by a very impressive amount (see just how much).
Equally as integral, positive insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the stock market universe. Obviously, there are many incentives for a bullish insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if piggybackers understand what to do (learn more here).
Now, it’s important to take a glance at the latest action surrounding Signet Jewelers Ltd. (NYSE:SIG).
How have hedgies been trading Signet Jewelers Ltd. (NYSE:SIG)?
At year’s end, a total of 25 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully.
According to our comprehensive database, Select Equity Group, managed by Robert Joseph Caruso, holds the biggest position in Signet Jewelers Ltd. (NYSE:SIG). Select Equity Group has a $186 million billion position in the stock, comprising 2.9% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Egerton Capital Limited, managed by John Armitage, which held a $133 million position; the fund has 5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies that hold long positions include Crispin Odey’s Odey Asset Management Group, Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital and David Gallo’s Valinor Management LLC.
Because Signet Jewelers Ltd. (NYSE:SIG) has faced a declination in interest from hedge fund managers, logic holds that there lies a certain “tier” of hedgies who sold off their positions entirely last quarter. Interestingly, Robert Rodriguez and Steven Romick’s First Pacific Advisors LLC said goodbye to the largest investment of all the hedgies we key on, worth about $113 million in stock., and Jorge Paulo Lemann of 3G Capital was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $25 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
How are insiders trading Signet Jewelers Ltd. (NYSE:SIG)?
Insider buying is best served when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time period, Signet Jewelers Ltd. (NYSE:SIG) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns exhibited by the aforementioned tactics, everyday investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Signet Jewelers Ltd. (NYSE:SIG) is no exception.
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