After several tireless days we have finished crunching the numbers from more than 700 13F filings issued by the elite hedge funds and other investment firms that we track at Insider Monkey, which disclosed those firms’ equity portfolios as of September 30. The results of that effort will be put on display in this article, as we share valuable insight into the smart money sentiment towards Clean Energy Fuels Corp (NASDAQ:CLNE).
Is Clean Energy Fuels Corp (NASDAQ:CLNE) going to take off soon? Hedge funds are getting less optimistic. The number of long hedge fund bets retreated by 6 recently. Clean Energy Fuels Corp (NASDAQ:CLNE) was in 6 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 12 hedge funds in our database with Clean Energy Fuels Corp (NASDAQ:CLNE) positions at the end of the previous quarter. For average investors holding positions in Clean Energy Fuels Corp (NASDAQ:CLNE), this might not be a surprise, considering a drop of 19.93% in the share prices of the company during the third quarter. We will cover hedge funds and institutional investors that held positions in the company at the end of September.
For an understanding of hedge fund behavior towards similar stocks, we will also compare Clean Energy Fuels Corp (NASDAQ:CLNE) to other stocks, including Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ:CORT), Multi-Fineline Electronix, Inc. (NASDAQ:MFLX), and Catchmark Timber Trust Inc (NYSE:CTT) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ:CLNE)
Follow Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ:CLNE)
Today, there are several gauges stock traders can use to assess their stock investments. A couple of the less known gauges are hedge fund and insider trading moves. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top investment managers can trounce the broader indices by a solid amount (see the details here).
Keeping this in mind, let’s take a look at the key action regarding Clean Energy Fuels Corp (NASDAQ:CLNE).
How are hedge funds trading Clean Energy Fuels Corp (NASDAQ:CLNE)?
Heading into Q4, a total of 6 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a decrease of 50% from the second quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, D E Shaw holds the largest position in Clean Energy Fuels Corp (NASDAQ:CLNE). D E Shaw has a $3.2 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Vollero Beach Capital Partners, led by Robert Vollero and Gentry T. Beach, holding a $0.9 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other members of the smart money with similar optimism include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Sander Gerber’s Hudson Bay Capital Management, and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
Because Clean Energy Fuels Corp (NASDAQ:CLNE) has witnessed a declination in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s easy to see that there is a sect of money managers that decided to sell off their full holdings last quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Crispin Odey’s Odey Asset Management Group cut the largest stake of the “upper crust” of funds followed by Insider Monkey, totaling about $1 million in stock. Renaissance Technologies also cut its stock, about $0.6 million worth of shares. These transactions are interesting, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 6 funds last quarter.
Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Clean Energy Fuels Corp (NASDAQ:CLNE). We will take a look at Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ:CORT), Multi-Fineline Electronix, Inc. (NASDAQ:MFLX), Catchmark Timber Trust Inc (NYSE:CTT), and Apollo Residential Mortgage Inc (NYSE:AMTG). All of these stocks’ market caps resemble Clean Energy Fuels Corp (NASDAQ:CLNE)’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| CORT | 14 | 7214 | 5 |
| MFLX | 17 | 23126 | 4 |
| CTT | 11 | 29323 | 3 |
| AMTG | 11 | 44717 | -2 |
As you can see, these stocks had an average of 13 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $26 million. That figure was $5 million in Clean Energy Fuels Corp (NASDAQ:CLNE)’s case. Multi-Fineline Electronix, Inc. (NASDAQ:MFLX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Catchmark Timber Trust Inc (NYSE:CTT) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks, Clean Energy Fuels Corp (NASDAQ:CLNE) is even less popular than Catchmark Timber Trust Inc (NYSE:CTT). Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock in relation to other companies analyzed in this article, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and understand why the smart money isn’t behind this stock. This isn’t necessarily bad news. Although it is possible that hedge funds may think the stock is overpriced and view the stock as a short candidate, they may not be very familiar with the bullish thesis. In either case, more research is warranted.
