Hedge Funds Are Crazy About Skechers USA Inc (NYSE:SKX)

Skechers USA Inc (NYSE:SKX) investors should be aware of an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers lately.

Skechers USA Inc (NYSE:SKX)

If you’d ask most investors, hedge funds are assumed to be worthless, outdated financial tools of yesteryear. While there are more than 8000 funds trading at the moment, we hone in on the masters of this group, close to 450 funds. It is estimated that this group has its hands on the majority of the smart money’s total capital, and by monitoring their highest performing picks, we have brought to light a number of investment strategies that have historically outstripped the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced 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 beaten the S&P 500 index by 25 percentage points in 6.5 month (see the details here).

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With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a gander at the latest action regarding Skechers USA Inc (NYSE:SKX).

How are hedge funds trading Skechers USA Inc (NYSE:SKX)?

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 18 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 13% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably.

According to our comprehensive database, David Keidan’s Buckingham Capital Management had the largest position in Skechers USA Inc (NYSE:SKX), worth close to $22 million, accounting for 1.8% of its total 13F portfolio. On Buckingham Capital Management’s heels is Pzena Investment Management, managed by Richard S. Pzena, which held a $16 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining peers with similar optimism include Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Alexander Mitchell’s Scopus Asset Management and Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors.

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, specific money managers have jumped into Skechers USA Inc (NYSE:SKX) headfirst. Tudor Investment Corp, managed by Paul Tudor Jones, created the biggest position in Skechers USA Inc (NYSE:SKX). Tudor Investment Corp had 3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Paul Tanico’s Castlerock Asset Management also made a $1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Jeffrey Vinik’s Vinik Asset Management, Ken Gray and Steve Walsh’s Bryn Mawr Capital, and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.

How have insiders been trading Skechers USA Inc (NYSE:SKX)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time period, Skechers USA Inc (NYSE:SKX) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the results exhibited by the aforementioned research, retail investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Skechers USA Inc (NYSE:SKX) is no exception.

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