Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) investors should pay attention to a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers recently.
In the financial world, there are tons of metrics shareholders can use to watch the equity markets. A pair of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top money managers can outperform the broader indices by a very impressive margin (see just how much).
Just as important, positive insider trading activity is a second way to break down the investments you’re interested in. There are lots of incentives for a corporate insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Various academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if investors understand where to look (learn more here).
Consequently, it’s important to take a gander at the latest action regarding Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE).
What does the smart money think about Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 6 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 0% from the third quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes substantially.
Of the funds we track, David Dreman’s Dreman Value Management had the biggest position in Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE), worth close to $19.6 million, accounting for 0.6% of its total 13F portfolio. On Dreman Value Management’s heels is Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, which held a $10 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers that are bullish include Amy Minella’s Cardinal Capital, Andrew Sandler’s Sandler Capital Management and Ken Grossman and Glen Schneider’s SG Capital Management.
Judging by the fact that Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) has experienced falling interest from hedge fund managers, we can see that there is a sect of money managers who sold off their full holdings at the end of the year. It’s worth mentioning that Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management cut the biggest stake of all the hedgies we key on, valued at an estimated $5.4 million in stock.. Israel Englander’s fund, Millennium Management, also dumped its stock, about $0.5 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
How are insiders trading Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE)?
Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last six-month time frame, Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 4 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 Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE). These stocks are The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX), Lifetime Brands Inc (NASDAQ:LCUT), Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE:NWL), Jarden Corp (NYSE:JAH), and Libbey Inc. (NYSEAMEX:LBY). This group of stocks are the members of the housewares & accessories industry and their market caps match HELE’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) | 18 | 1 | 11 |
| Lifetime Brands Inc (NASDAQ:LCUT) | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE:NWL) | 28 | 0 | 5 |
| Jarden Corp (NYSE:JAH) | 21 | 0 | 6 |
| Libbey Inc. (NYSEAMEX:LBY) | 7 | 0 | 1 |
With the returns demonstrated by the aforementioned studies, everyday investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) is no exception.
