Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc (FDP): Insiders Are Buying, Should You?

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Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc (NYSE:FDP) was in 4 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. FDP has experienced a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds in recent months. There were 7 hedge funds in our database with FDP positions at the end of the previous quarter.

Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc (NYSE:FDP)In today’s marketplace, there are many gauges shareholders can use to track the equity markets. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top fund managers can outpace the S&P 500 by a solid amount (see just how much).

Just as important, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the stock market universe. Just as you’d expect, there are many reasons for a bullish insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, it’s important to take a gander at the key action surrounding Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc (NYSE:FDP).

How are hedge funds trading Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc (NYSE:FDP)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 4 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -43% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably.

When looking at the hedgies we track, AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, holds the largest position in Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc (NYSE:FDP). AQR Capital Management has a $27.4 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Paul Tudor Jones of Tudor Investment Corp, with a $0.8 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds with similar optimism include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

Seeing as Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc (NYSE:FDP) has faced a declination in interest from the smart money, we can see that there lies a certain “tier” of hedgies who were dropping their entire stakes heading into Q2. Interestingly, Andrew Spokes’s Farallon Capital said goodbye to the biggest stake of the 450+ funds we track, valued at about $10.6 million in stock., and John Overdeck and David Siegel of Two Sigma Advisors was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $0.6 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 3 funds heading into Q2.

What have insiders been doing with Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc (NYSE:FDP)?

Bullish insider trading is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time period, Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc (NYSE:FDP) has experienced 1 unique insiders buying, and 10 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc (NYSE:FDP). These stocks are Chiquita Brands International, Inc. (NYSE:CQB), Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW), Cresud S.A.C.I.F. y A. (ADR) (NASDAQ:CRESY), Adecoagro SA (NYSE:AGRO), and The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE). All of these stocks are in the farm products industry and their market caps resemble FDP’s market cap.

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