Is BT Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:BT) a buy?
To many of your fellow readers, hedge funds are assumed to be bloated, outdated financial vehicles of a period lost to current times. Although there are over 8,000 hedge funds with their doors open in present day, this site aim at the leaders of this group, about 525 funds. It is widely held that this group has its hands on most of the smart money’s total assets, and by monitoring their highest quality stock picks, we’ve brought to light a number of investment strategies that have historically outstripped Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have topped the S&P 500 index by 33 percentage points in 11 months (explore the details and some picks here).
Just as key, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to look at the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of stimuli for a corporate insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if investors understand what to do (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, it’s important to examine the latest info about BT Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:BT).
How are hedge funds trading BT Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:BT)?
In preparation for the third quarter, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 11% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably.
According to our 13F database, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies had the most valuable position in BT Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:BT), worth close to $56.2 million, comprising 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell of Arrowstreet Capital, with a $26 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds with similar optimism include Thomas Bailard’s Bailard Inc, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.
As one would understandably expect, particular hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, assembled the most outsized position in BT Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:BT). Renaissance Technologies had 56.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital also made a $26 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new BT positions are Thomas Bailard’s Bailard Inc, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about BT Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:BT)?
Insider buying made by high-level executives is best served when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time frame, BT Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:BT) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also take a look at the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to BT Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:BT). These stocks are Telefonica S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:TEF), Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp (ADR) (NYSE:NTT), PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (ADR) (NYSE:TLK), China Telecom Corporation Limited (ADR) (NYSE:CHA), and France Telecom SA (ADR) (NYSE:FTE). All of these stocks are in the telecom services – foreign industry and their market caps are similar to BT’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Telefonica S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:TEF) | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp (ADR) (NYSE:NTT) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (ADR) (NYSE:TLK) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| China Telecom Corporation Limited (ADR) (NYSE:CHA) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| France Telecom SA (ADR) (NYSE:FTE) | 0 | 0 |
Using the results demonstrated by the previously mentioned research, average investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and BT Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:BT) is an important part of this process.
