Hedge Funds Are Selling Tupperware Brands Corporation (TUP)

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Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE:TUP) was in 13 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. TUP investors should be aware of a decrease in hedge fund interest recently. There were 21 hedge funds in our database with TUP holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

If you’d ask most stock holders, hedge funds are viewed as worthless, old investment vehicles of yesteryear. While there are over 8000 funds in operation at present, we choose to focus on the moguls of this club, close to 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group oversees the lion’s share of all hedge funds’ total capital, and by tracking their top picks, we have found a number of investment strategies that have historically beaten the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually 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 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (see all of our picks from August).

Equally as key, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the stock market universe. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of stimuli for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, let’s take a glance at the recent action encompassing Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE:TUP).

How have hedgies been trading Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE:TUP)?

Heading into Q2, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -38% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.

Tupperware Brands CorporationWhen looking at the hedgies we track, AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, holds the most valuable position in Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE:TUP). AQR Capital Management has a $48.1 million position in the stock, comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. On AQR Capital Management’s heels is Donald Chiboucis of Columbus Circle Investors, with a $25.5 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds that hold long positions include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

Judging by the fact that Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE:TUP) has faced bearish sentiment from the smart money, logic holds that there exists a select few hedge funds that elected to cut their full holdings at the end of the first quarter. At the top of the heap, Steven Richman’s East Side Capital (RR Partners) sold off the biggest position of all the hedgies we key on, totaling about $48.5 million in stock., and John Murphy of Alydar Capital was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $14.1 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as total hedge fund interest fell by 8 funds at the end of the first quarter.

Insider trading activity in Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE:TUP)

Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time frame, Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE:TUP) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 18 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 Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE:TUP). These stocks are AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR), Bemis Company, Inc. (NYSE:BMS), Sealed Air Corp (NYSE:SEE), Owens-Illinois Inc (NYSE:OI), and Packaging Corp Of America (NYSE:PKG). This group of stocks are the members of the packaging & containers industry and their market caps are similar to TUP’s market cap.

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