At the moment, there are plenty of metrics market participants can use to track stocks. A duo of the best 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 investment managers can beat the broader indices by a very impressive margin (see just how much).
Just as useful, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to analyze the marketplace. There are many reasons for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if you understand where to look (learn more here).
Now that that’s out of the way, it’s important to examine the recent info for Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG).
What have hedge funds been doing with Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG)?
At Q2’s end, a total of 23 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 5% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially.
When using filings from the hedgies we track, Larry Robbins’s Glenview Capital had the most valuable position in Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG), worth close to $52.6 million, comprising 0.5% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Scopia Capital, managed by Matt Sirovich and Jeremy Mindich, which held a $48.3 million position; 1.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other peers that are bullish include Mark Travis’s Intrepid Capital Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.
As one would understandably expect, specific money managers have jumped into Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG) headfirst. Glenview Capital, managed by Larry Robbins, established the most valuable position in Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG). Glenview Capital had 52.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Matt Sirovich and Jeremy Mindich’s Scopia Capital also made a $48.3 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new BIG positions are Mark Travis’s Intrepid Capital Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.
How have insiders been trading Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG)?
Insider buying is best served when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time frame, Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG) has seen zero unique insiders buying, 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 Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG). These stocks are Tuesday Morning Corporation (NASDAQ:TUES), Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR), Fred’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRED), Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (NYSE:FDO), and PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT). All of these stocks are in the discount, variety stores industry and their market caps match BIG’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Tuesday Morning Corporation (NASDAQ:TUES) | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) | 44 | 0 | 0 |
| Fred’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRED) | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (NYSE:FDO) | 27 | 0 | 0 |
| PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) | 6 | 0 | 0 |
Using the results explained by the previously mentioned tactics, average investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG) applies perfectly to this mantra.
