Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Genesco Inc. (NYSE:GCO) – The Men’s Wearhouse, Inc. (NYSE:MW), Express, Inc. (NYSE:EXPR)

Genesco Inc. (NYSE:GCO) investors should pay attention to a decrease in hedge fund interest lately.

At the moment, there are tons of gauges investors can use to track their holdings. Two of the most innovative 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 hedge fund managers can beat the market by a solid amount (see just how much).

Equally as important, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are a number of reasons for a corporate insider to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, let’s take a gander at the key action regarding Genesco Inc. (NYSE:GCO).

Hedge fund activity in Genesco Inc. (NYSE:GCO)

In preparation for this year, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -13% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.

According to our comprehensive database, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management had the most valuable position in Genesco Inc. (NYSE:GCO), worth close to $43 million, comprising 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Richard Chilton of Chilton Investment Company, with a $28 million position; 0.8% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedge funds with similar optimism include Joe DiMenna’s ZWEIG DIMENNA PARTNERS, James Dondero’s Highland Capital Management and David Keidan’s Buckingham Capital Management.

Because Genesco Inc. (NYSE:GCO) has faced bearish sentiment from hedge fund managers, logic holds that there exists a select few fund managers that decided to sell off their full holdings in Q4. Intriguingly, Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors said goodbye to the largest position of the 450+ funds we key on, valued at an estimated $36 million in stock.. Malcolm Fairbairn’s fund, Ascend Capital, also said goodbye to its stock, about $12 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds in Q4.

How are insiders trading Genesco Inc. (NYSE:GCO)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Genesco Inc. (NYSE:GCO) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Genesco Inc. (NYSE:GCO). These stocks are Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc (NASDAQ:JOSB), The Men’s Wearhouse, Inc. (NYSE:MW), Ann Inc (NYSE:ANN), Wacoal Holdings Corporation (ADR) (NASDAQ:WACLY), and Express, Inc. (NYSE:EXPR). This group of stocks are the members of the apparel stores industry and their market caps resemble GCO’s market cap.

Company Name	# of Hedge Funds	# of Insiders Buying	# of Insiders Selling
Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc (NASDAQ:JOSB)	9	0	2
The Men’s Wearhouse, Inc. (NYSE:MW)	13	0	4
Ann Inc (NYSE:ANN)	20	1	2
Wacoal Holdings Corporation (ADR) (NASDAQ:WACLY)	1	0	0
Express, Inc. (NYSE:EXPR)	21	0	1

With the results shown by the aforementioned strategies, retail investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Genesco Inc. (NYSE:GCO) is no exception.