The WhiteWave Foods Co (WWAV): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

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What’s a smart The WhiteWave Foods Co (NYSE:WWAV) investor to do?

In the eyes of many traders, hedge funds are assumed to be overrated, outdated investment tools of a forgotten age. Although there are In excess of 8,000 hedge funds in operation in present day, Insider Monkey looks at the upper echelon of this group, about 525 funds. Analysts calculate that this group oversees the majority of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by keeping an eye on their highest performing picks, we’ve determined a number of investment strategies that have historically beaten the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum 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 outclassed the S&P 500 index by 33 percentage points in 11 months (see all of our picks from August).

Just as crucial, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to look at the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of incentives for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if shareholders know where to look (learn more here).

Thus, we’re going to analyze the latest info about The WhiteWave Foods Co (NYSE:WWAV).

The WhiteWave Foods Co (NYSE:WWAV)

How have hedgies been trading The WhiteWave Foods Co (NYSE:WWAV)?

At the end of the second quarter, a total of 18 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 125% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially.

According to our 13F database, Emerging Sovereign Group, managed by J Kevin Kenny Jr, holds the largest position in The WhiteWave Foods Co (NYSE:WWAV). Emerging Sovereign Group has a $21.9 million position in the stock, comprising 0.9% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Arthur B Cohen and Joseph Healey of Healthcor Management LP, with a $16.8 million position; the fund has 1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedgies that hold long positions include Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management and Steven Richman’s East Side Capital (RR Partners).

As industrywide interest increased, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Emerging Sovereign Group, managed by J Kevin Kenny Jr, created the most valuable position in The WhiteWave Foods Co (NYSE:WWAV). Emerging Sovereign Group had 21.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Arthur B Cohen and Joseph Healey’s Healthcor Management LP also made a $16.8 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new WWAV investors: Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, and Steven Richman’s East Side Capital (RR Partners).

What have insiders been doing with The WhiteWave Foods Co (NYSE:WWAV)?

Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time period, The WhiteWave Foods Co (NYSE:WWAV) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll check out the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to The WhiteWave Foods Co (NYSE:WWAV). These stocks are Dole Food Company, Inc. (NYSE:DOLE), Cal-Maine Foods Inc (NASDAQ:CALM), Sanderson Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFM), Post Holdings Inc (NYSE:POST), and Lancaster Colony Corp. (NASDAQ:LANC). This group of stocks are in the food – major diversified industry and their market caps are closest to WWAV’s market cap.

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