CNOOC Limited (ADR) (CEO): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

Is CNOOC Limited (ADR) (NYSE:CEO) a buy, sell, or hold? Hedge funds are getting more optimistic. The number of long hedge fund bets improved by 3 in recent months.

At the moment, there are many indicators shareholders can use to watch their holdings. A duo of the most innovative 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 best fund managers can outpace the S&P 500 by a very impressive margin (see just how much).

Equally as important, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the financial markets. There are a number of reasons for an upper level exec to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if investors understand where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, let’s take a look at the key action regarding CNOOC Limited (ADR) (NYSE:CEO).

What does the smart money think about CNOOC Limited (ADR) (NYSE:CEO)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 27% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably.

Of the funds we track, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management had the biggest position in CNOOC Limited (ADR) (NYSE:CEO), worth close to $369.7 million, accounting for 1% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $12.7 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedge funds that are bullish include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

As one would reasonably expect, specific money managers have jumped into CNOOC Limited (ADR) (NYSE:CEO) headfirst. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, initiated the biggest position in CNOOC Limited (ADR) (NYSE:CEO). Renaissance Technologies had 12.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also made a $3.3 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new CEO investors: Sander Gerber’s Hudson Bay Capital Management, Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management, and Mike Vranos’s Ellington.

What have insiders been doing with CNOOC Limited (ADR) (NYSE:CEO)?

Bullish insider trading is most useful when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time frame, CNOOC Limited (ADR) (NYSE:CEO) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to CNOOC Limited (ADR) (NYSE:CEO). These stocks are EOG Resources Inc (NYSE:EOG), Canadian Natural Resource Ltd (USA) (NYSE:CNQ), Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:APC), Suncor Energy Inc. (USA) (NYSE:SU), and Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD). This group of stocks are in the independent oil & gas industry and their market caps are similar to CEO’s market cap.