Hedge Funds Are Selling Elizabeth Arden, Inc. (RDEN): Energizer Holdings, Inc. (ENR), Blyth, Inc. (BTH)

Elizabeth Arden, Inc. (NASDAQ:RDEN) was in 11 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. RDEN investors should be aware of a decrease in hedge fund sentiment lately. There were 12 hedge funds in our database with RDEN holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

Elizabeth Arden, Inc. (NASDAQ:RDEN)According to most traders, hedge funds are seen as slow, outdated investment vehicles of years past. While there are over 8000 funds in operation at the moment, we look at the aristocrats of this group, around 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group oversees the lion’s share of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by monitoring their highest performing picks, we have figured out a few investment strategies that have historically outpaced Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outclassed the S&P 500 index by 24 percentage points in 7 months (explore the details and some picks here).

Equally as key, positive insider trading activity is another way to parse down the world of equities. There are a variety of motivations for a corporate insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if investors know where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, it’s important to take a glance at the key action regarding Elizabeth Arden, Inc. (NASDAQ:RDEN).

How have hedgies been trading Elizabeth Arden, Inc. (NASDAQ:RDEN)?

At year’s end, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -8% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes meaningfully.

According to our comprehensive database, Columbus Circle Investors, managed by Donald Chiboucis, holds the most valuable position in Elizabeth Arden, Inc. (NASDAQ:RDEN). Columbus Circle Investors has a $36.2 million position in the stock, comprising 0.3% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Fisher Asset Management, managed by Ken Fisher, which held a $23 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other peers with similar optimism include Alexander Mitchell’s Scopus Asset Management, Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

Due to the fact that Elizabeth Arden, Inc. (NASDAQ:RDEN) has experienced a declination in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there were a few hedge funds who were dropping their positions entirely in Q4. Intriguingly, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies cut the largest investment of all the hedgies we track, worth about $2 million in stock., and John Overdeck and David Siegel of Two Sigma Advisors was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $1 million worth. These moves are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds in Q4.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Elizabeth Arden, Inc. (NASDAQ:RDEN)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time frame, Elizabeth Arden, Inc. (NASDAQ:RDEN) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Elizabeth Arden, Inc. (NASDAQ:RDEN). These stocks are Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ENR), Blyth, Inc. (NYSE:BTH), Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:NUS), Inter Parfums, Inc. (NASDAQ:IPAR), and Revlon Inc (NYSE:REV). This group of stocks are in the personal products industry and their market caps match RDEN’s market cap.

Company Name # of Hedge Funds # of Insiders Buying # of Insiders Selling
Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ENR) 24 1 8
Blyth, Inc. (NYSE:BTH) 14 1 0
Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:NUS) 16 0 3
Inter Parfums, Inc. (NASDAQ:IPAR) 4 0 7
Revlon Inc (NYSE:REV) 7 0 0

With the results shown by Insider Monkey’s tactics, everyday investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Elizabeth Arden, Inc. (NASDAQ:RDEN) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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