Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE:PNW) investors should pay attention to a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers recently.
Equally as beneficial, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the marketplace. Just as you’d expect, there are lots of motivations for a bullish insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would buy. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if you know where to look (learn more here).
Consequently, it’s important to take a peek at the latest action regarding Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE:PNW).
What have hedge funds been doing with Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE:PNW)?
At year’s end, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -21% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly.
Of the funds we track, Winton Capital Management, managed by David Harding, holds the most valuable position in Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE:PNW). Winton Capital Management has a $27 million position in the stock, comprising 0.8% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, which held a $24 million position; 0% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds that hold long positions include Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, John A. Levin’s Levin Capital Strategies and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
Since Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE:PNW) has witnessed a declination in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, we can see that there is a sect of hedge funds that decided to sell off their full holdings heading into 2013. At the top of the heap, Louis Bacon’s Moore Global Investments dropped the largest position of all the hedgies we monitor, valued at close to $1 million in stock.. Mike Vranos’s fund, Ellington, also sold off its stock, about $1 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest fell by 3 funds heading into 2013.
What have insiders been doing with Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE:PNW)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time period, Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE:PNW) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE:PNW). These stocks are Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP), CMS Energy Corporation (NYSE:CMS), Alliant Energy Corporation (NYSE:LNT), OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE:OGE), and SCANA Corporation (NYSE:SCG). This group of stocks belong to the electric utilities industry and their market caps match PNW’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| CMS Energy Corporation (NYSE:CMS) | 12 | 0 | 5 |
| Alliant Energy Corporation (NYSE:LNT) | 14 | 1 | 0 |
| OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE:OGE) | 11 | 0 | 1 |
| SCANA Corporation (NYSE:SCG) | 10 | 0 | 1 |
With the results exhibited by our strategies, retail investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE:PNW) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
