TreeHouse Foods Inc. (THS): Insiders Aren’t Crazy About It

TreeHouse Foods Inc. (NYSE:THS) was in 14 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. THS shareholders have witnessed an increase in hedge fund interest of late. There were 12 hedge funds in our database with THS holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

In today’s marketplace, there are tons of indicators investors can use to watch publicly traded companies. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top fund managers can trounce the broader indices by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Equally as key, positive insider trading activity is a second way to break down the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are lots of reasons for a corporate insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Several academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if investors understand where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, we’re going to take a gander at the recent action encompassing TreeHouse Foods Inc. (NYSE:THS).

Hedge fund activity in TreeHouse Foods Inc. (NYSE:THS)

At Q1’s end, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 17% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Fisher Asset Management, managed by Ken Fisher, holds the most valuable position in TreeHouse Foods Inc. (NYSE:THS). Fisher Asset Management has a $59.1 million position in the stock, comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Bill Miller of Legg Mason Capital Management, with a $11.8 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedgies that hold long positions include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management.

As industrywide interest jumped, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Catapult Capital Management, managed by Israel Englander, created the biggest position in TreeHouse Foods Inc. (NYSE:THS). Catapult Capital Management had 3.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also made a $1.8 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new THS investors: Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.

What have insiders been doing with TreeHouse Foods Inc. (NYSE:THS)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time period, TreeHouse Foods Inc. (NYSE:THS) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to TreeHouse Foods Inc. (NYSE:THS). These stocks are J&J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF), B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE:BGS), Snyder S Lance Inc (NASDAQ:LNCE), The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN), and Gruma S.A.B. de C.V. (ADR) (NYSE:GMK). All of these stocks are in the processed & packaged goods industry and their market caps are closest to THS’s market cap.