Do Hedge Funds and Insiders Love Bemis Company, Inc. (BMS)?

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Bemis Company, Inc. (NYSE:BMS) has seen a decrease in hedge fund interest recently.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are many indicators shareholders can use to track their holdings. A pair of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best investment managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a solid amount (see just how much).

Equally as important, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the world of equities. Obviously, there are plenty of reasons for an executive to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if you understand where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, let’s take a gander at the key action regarding Bemis Company, Inc. (NYSE:BMS).

Hedge fund activity in Bemis Company, Inc. (NYSE:BMS)

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -17% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully.

According to our comprehensive database, Winton Capital Management, managed by David Harding, holds the most valuable position in Bemis Company, Inc. (NYSE:BMS). Winton Capital Management has a $22.7 million position in the stock, comprising 0.4% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, which held a $18.8 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers that hold long positions include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

Seeing as Bemis Company, Inc. (NYSE:BMS) has faced a declination in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few hedge funds who sold off their positions entirely at the end of the first quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital dumped the largest position of the 450+ funds we key on, worth about $3.9 million in stock., and Israel Englander of Millennium Management was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $3.2 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 2 funds at the end of the first quarter.

What have insiders been doing with Bemis Company, Inc. (NYSE:BMS)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time frame, Bemis Company, Inc. (NYSE:BMS) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Bemis Company, Inc. (NYSE:BMS). These stocks are Sealed Air Corp (NYSE:SEE), AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR), Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE:TUP), Packaging Corp Of America (NYSE:PKG), and Owens-Illinois Inc (NYSE:OI). All of these stocks are in the packaging & containers industry and their market caps resemble BMS’s market cap.

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