To many of your fellow readers, hedge funds are assumed to be overrated, old financial tools of a forgotten age. Although there are In excess of 8,000 hedge funds with their doors open in present day, Insider Monkey focuses on the masters of this group, about 525 funds. Analysts calculate that this group oversees most of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by monitoring their highest performing picks, we’ve deciphered a few investment strategies that have historically beaten the S&P 500. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per 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 outpaced the S&P 500 index by 33 percentage points in 11 months (find the details here).
Equally as necessary, bullish insider trading activity is another way to look at the financial markets. There are a number of motivations for a corporate insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if shareholders know where to look (learn more here).
What’s more, it’s important to analyze the newest info surrounding Arkansas Best Corporation (NASDAQ:ABFS).
What have hedge funds been doing with Arkansas Best Corporation (NASDAQ:ABFS)?
Heading into Q3, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 8% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully.
Out of the hedge funds we follow, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the biggest position in Arkansas Best Corporation (NASDAQ:ABFS). Royce & Associates has a $32.7 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Scopus Asset Management, managed by Alexander Mitchell, which held a $27 million position; the fund has 0.7% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedgies that are bullish include Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management, Richard S. Meisenberg’s ACK Asset Management and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
As one would understandably expect, particular hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, created the most valuable position in Arkansas Best Corporation (NASDAQ:ABFS). Royce & Associates had 32.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Alexander Mitchell’s Scopus Asset Management also made a $27 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new ABFS positions are Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management, Richard S. Meisenberg’s ACK Asset Management, and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
How have insiders been trading Arkansas Best Corporation (NASDAQ:ABFS)?
Insider buying made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time frame, Arkansas Best Corporation (NASDAQ:ABFS) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll check out the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Arkansas Best Corporation (NASDAQ:ABFS). These stocks are Echo Global Logistics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECHO), Celadon Group, Inc. (NYSE:CGI), Marten Transport, Ltd (NASDAQ:MRTN), Quality Distribution, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLTY), and Patriot Transportation Holding, Inc. (NASDAQ:PATR). This group of stocks are the members of the trucking industry and their market caps resemble ABFS’s market cap.
