This Metric Says You Are Smart to Sell The Fresh Market Inc (TFM)

Should The Fresh Market Inc (NASDAQ:TFM) investors track the following data?

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are tons of methods investors can use to track Mr. Market. A couple of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top investment managers can outclass their index-focused peers by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Just as necessary, bullish insider trading activity is another way to analyze the world of equities. There are a number of reasons for an executive to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, we’re going to analyze the recent info about The Fresh Market Inc (NASDAQ:TFM).

Hedge fund activity in The Fresh Market Inc (NASDAQ:TFM)

At the end of the second quarter, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -27% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.

According to our 13F database, Daruma Asset Management, managed by Mariko Gordon, holds the biggest position in The Fresh Market Inc (NASDAQ:TFM). Daruma Asset Management has a $50.7 million position in the stock, comprising 2.5% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which held a $34.1 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedgies that are bullish include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.

Because The Fresh Market Inc (NASDAQ:TFM) has experienced a fall in interest from the top-tier hedge fund industry, we can see that there exists a select few hedgies who sold off their positions entirely in Q1. At the top of the heap, Sanford J. Colen’s Apex Capital said goodbye to the biggest stake of the “upper crust” of funds we monitor, worth close to $17.1 million in stock. Pasco Alfaro / Richard Tumure’s fund, Miura Global Management, also said goodbye to its stock, about $12.8 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 4 funds in Q1.

Insider trading activity in The Fresh Market Inc (NASDAQ:TFM)

Bullish insider trading is most useful when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time frame, The Fresh Market Inc (NASDAQ:TFM) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll also examine the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to The Fresh Market Inc (NASDAQ:TFM). These stocks are SUPERVALU INC. (NYSE:SVU), Susser Holdings Corporation (NYSE:SUSS), Weis Markets, Inc. (NYSE:WMK), Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY), and Harris Teeter Supermarkets Inc (NYSE:HTSI). This group of stocks are the members of the grocery stores industry and their market caps resemble TFM’s market cap.