Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPB)

Is Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPB) a superb investment right now? Prominent investors are becoming more confident. The number of bullish hedge fund bets rose by 9 lately.

Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc.(NYSE:SPB)

To the average investor, there are dozens of metrics shareholders can use to watch the equity markets. Some of the best are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite money managers can outpace the S&P 500 by a solid margin (see just how much).

Equally as important, bullish insider trading activity is another way to break down the stock market universe. Obviously, there are lots of motivations for an executive to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a peek at the latest action regarding Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPB).

How have hedgies been trading Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPB)?

In preparation for this year, a total of 18 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 100% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.

Of the funds we track, Phil Falcone’s Harbinger had the biggest position in Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPB), worth close to $1.343 billion, comprising 62.3% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is D. E. Shaw of D E Shaw, with a $67 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedgies that are bullish include Christian Leone’s Luxor Capital Group, Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.

As aggregate interest increased, key money managers have been driving this bullishness. Luxor Capital Group, managed by Christian Leone, established the most outsized position in Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPB). Luxor Capital Group had 20 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management also initiated a $10 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new SPB investors: Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Mark Kingdon’s Kingdon Capital, and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

Insider trading activity in Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPB)

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time frame, Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPB) has experienced 3 unique insiders buying, and 5 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the results demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s strategies, everyday investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPB) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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