Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (ATW): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

Should Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE:ATW) investors track the following data?

In the financial world, there are many indicators investors can use to analyze stocks. Two of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best fund managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Equally as useful, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to analyze the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of motivations for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).

What’s more, it’s important to analyze the latest info about Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE:ATW).

Hedge fund activity in Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE:ATW)

At the end of the second quarter, a total of 19 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 36% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.

Out of the hedge funds we follow, David Dreman’s Dreman Value Management had the largest position in Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE:ATW), worth close to $31.8 million, accounting for 1% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is First Pacific Advisors LLC, managed by Robert Rodriguez and Steven Romick, which held a $29.7 million position; 0.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedgies that hold long positions include Greg Poole’s Echo Street Capital Management, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

With a general bullishness amongst the titans, certain bigger names were leading the bulls’ herd. Dreman Value Management, managed by David Dreman, initiated the biggest position in Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE:ATW). Dreman Value Management had 31.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Robert Rodriguez and Steven Romick’s First Pacific Advisors LLC also initiated a $29.7 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Greg Poole’s Echo Street Capital Management, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

What have insiders been doing with Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE:ATW)?

Insider buying made by high-level executives is best served when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time frame, Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE:ATW) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll also review the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE:ATW). These stocks are Pengrowth Energy Corp (USA) (NYSE:PGH), Rowan Companies PLC (NYSE:RDC), Halcon Resources Corp (NYSE:HK), Enerplus Corp (USA) (NYSE:ERF), and Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN). All of these stocks are in the oil & gas drilling & exploration industry and their market caps are similar to ATW’s market cap.