True Religion Apparel, Inc. (TRLG): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

Is True Religion Apparel, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRLG) a first-rate investment right now? Hedge funds are betting on the stock. The number of bullish hedge fund positions inched up by 2 lately.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are dozens of metrics market participants can use to watch Mr. Market. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best money managers can outperform the market by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. There are many stimuli for a corporate insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Several academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

Now, let’s take a look at the key action regarding True Religion Apparel, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRLG).

What does the smart money think about True Religion Apparel, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRLG)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 17 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 13% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.

Of the funds we track, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the most valuable position in True Religion Apparel, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRLG). Royce & Associates has a $18.1 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. On Royce & Associates’s heels is Ken Griffin of Citadel Investment Group, with a $11.8 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining peers with similar optimism include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Richard C. Patton’s Courage Capital and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

As aggregate interest increased, key money managers have jumped into True Religion Apparel, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRLG) headfirst. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, created the biggest position in True Religion Apparel, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRLG). Renaissance Technologies had 6.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Sander Gerber’s Hudson Bay Capital Management also made a $5 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new TRLG investors: Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management, Mike Vranos’s Ellington, and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

How are insiders trading True Religion Apparel, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRLG)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time frame, True Religion Apparel, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRLG) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to True Religion Apparel, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRLG). These stocks are Perry Ellis International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PERY), Maidenform Brands, Inc. (NYSE:MFB), Quiksilver, Inc. (NYSE:ZQK), Oxford Industries, Inc. (NYSE:OXM), and G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GIII). This group of stocks are the members of the textile – apparel clothing industry and their market caps are similar to TRLG’s market cap.

With the returns exhibited by Insider Monkey’s tactics, retail investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and True Religion Apparel, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRLG) is an important part of this process.

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