Is Jabil Circuit, Inc. (JBL) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

Is Jabil Circuit, Inc. (NYSE:JBL) the right investment to pursue these days? Hedge funds are turning less bullish. The number of bullish hedge fund positions went down by 4 lately.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are a multitude of gauges investors can use to watch stocks. Two of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top money managers can beat the S&P 500 by a solid amount (see just how much).

Equally as important, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are a number of motivations for an insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, let’s take a peek at the key action encompassing Jabil Circuit, Inc. (NYSE:JBL).

What have hedge funds been doing with Jabil Circuit, Inc. (NYSE:JBL)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 22 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -15% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes substantially.

According to our comprehensive database, Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, holds the most valuable position in Jabil Circuit, Inc. (NYSE:JBL). Citadel Investment Group has a $51.8 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, which held a $24.6 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that hold long positions include Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital and Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management.

Because Jabil Circuit, Inc. (NYSE:JBL) has experienced falling interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, we can see that there were a few funds that decided to sell off their positions entirely in Q1. It’s worth mentioning that Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies said goodbye to the biggest stake of all the hedgies we monitor, totaling about $13.9 million in stock., and Matthew Tewksbury of Stevens Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $4.1 million worth. These moves are important to note, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 4 funds in Q1.

Insider trading activity in Jabil Circuit, Inc. (NYSE:JBL)

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Jabil Circuit, Inc. (NYSE:JBL) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 10 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Jabil Circuit, Inc. (NYSE:JBL). These stocks are Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS), Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE), Raven Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAVN), Celestica Inc. (USA) (NYSE:CLS), and Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX). This group of stocks are the members of the printed circuit boards industry and their market caps resemble JBL’s market cap.