In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are tons of metrics investors can use to track the equity markets. A duo of the best are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top fund managers can beat the broader indices by a very impressive amount (see just how much).
Equally as useful, positive insider trading activity is another way to analyze the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are a variety of motivations for an insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if investors know where to look (learn more here).
What’s more, let’s study the newest info for Trueblue Inc (NYSE:TBI).
What does the smart money think about Trueblue Inc (NYSE:TBI)?
At Q2’s end, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 30% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.
Out of the hedge funds we follow, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the largest position in Trueblue Inc (NYSE:TBI), worth close to $24.3 million, comprising 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, which held a $7.5 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies that hold long positions include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.
Now, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, established the most outsized position in Trueblue Inc (NYSE:TBI). Royce & Associates had 24.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management also made a $7.5 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new TBI positions are D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.
What have insiders been doing with Trueblue Inc (NYSE:TBI)?
Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time period, Trueblue Inc (NYSE:TBI) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll go over the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Trueblue Inc (NYSE:TBI). These stocks are DICE HOLDINGS, INC. (NYSE:DHX), Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA), AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AHS), Compass Diversified Holdings (NYSE:CODI), and Korn/Ferry International (NYSE:KFY). This group of stocks are in the staffing & outsourcing services industry and their market caps are similar to TBI’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| DICE HOLDINGS, INC. (NYSE:DHX) | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA) | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AHS) | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| Compass Diversified Holdings (NYSE:CODI) | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Korn/Ferry International (NYSE:KFY) | 17 | 0 | 0 |
Using the results demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s studies, regular investors should always track hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Trueblue Inc (NYSE:TBI) applies perfectly to this mantra.
