Hedge Funds Are Buying Symmetry Medical Inc. (SMA)

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Symmetry Medical Inc. (NYSE:SMA) has seen an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers lately.

In the eyes of most stock holders, hedge funds are viewed as slow, outdated financial vehicles of years past. While there are more than 8000 funds with their doors open at present, we choose to focus on the upper echelon of this group, about 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group oversees the lion’s share of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by tracking their highest performing investments, we have revealed a few investment strategies that have historically outperformed the S&P 500 index. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points a 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 trumped the S&P 500 index by 24 percentage points in 7 months (see the details here).

Symmetry Medical Inc. (NYSE:SMA)

Equally as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are a number of stimuli for an upper level exec to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a glance at the key action regarding Symmetry Medical Inc. (NYSE:SMA).

How are hedge funds trading Symmetry Medical Inc. (NYSE:SMA)?

Heading into 2013, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 50% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.

When looking at the hedgies we track, John W. Rogers’s Ariel Investments had the biggest position in Symmetry Medical Inc. (NYSE:SMA), worth close to $47.9 million, comprising 1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Ken Grossman and Glen Schneider of SG Capital Management, with a $2.9 million position; 1.5% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish include John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

Now, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves. SG Capital Management, managed by Ken Grossman and Glen Schneider, established the largest position in Symmetry Medical Inc. (NYSE:SMA). SG Capital Management had 2.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management also made a $0.6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new SMA investors: Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

How have insiders been trading Symmetry Medical Inc. (NYSE:SMA)?

Insider buying is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time period, Symmetry Medical Inc. (NYSE:SMA) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Symmetry Medical Inc. (NYSE:SMA). These stocks are Cardiovascular Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSII), Natus Medical Inc (NASDAQ:BABY), GenMark Diagnostics, Inc (NASDAQ:GNMK), Invacare Corporation (NYSE:IVC), and Cynosure, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYNO). All of these stocks are in the medical appliances & equipment industry and their market caps are similar to SMA’s market cap.

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