If you were to ask many investors, hedge funds are assumed to be delayed, outdated financial tools of a period lost to current times. Although there are over 8,000 hedge funds in operation today, Insider Monkey looks at the leaders of this group, around 525 funds. It is widely held that this group controls most of the hedge fund industry’s total assets, and by tracking their highest performing picks, we’ve figured out a number of investment strategies that have historically beaten the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per year 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 outclassed the S&P 500 index by 33 percentage points in 11 months (explore the details and some picks here).
Equally as necessary, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to look at the stock market universe. Just as you’d expect, there are many incentives for an insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Several academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, it’s important to examine the newest info about Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (USA) (NYSE:AEM).
How are hedge funds trading Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (USA) (NYSE:AEM)?
Heading into Q3, a total of 18 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -28% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially.
Due to the fact Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (USA) (NYSE:AEM) has faced declining interest from upper-tier hedge fund managers, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few money managers that decided to sell off their entire stakes in Q1. It’s worth mentioning that Jeffrey Vinik’s Vinik Asset Management dropped the biggest investment of the 450+ funds we track, totaling about $65.6 million in stock. Rob Citrone’s fund, Discovery Capital Management, also cut its stock, about $12.3 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as total hedge fund interest fell by 7 funds in Q1.
Insider trading activity in Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (USA) (NYSE:AEM)
Insider buying made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time frame, Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (USA) (NYSE:AEM) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also examine the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (USA) (NYSE:AEM). These stocks are Gold Fields Limited (ADR) (NYSE:GFI), Randgold Resources Ltd. (ADR) (NASDAQ:GOLD), Franco-Nevada Corporation (NYSE:FNV), Eldorado Gold Corp (USA) (NYSE:EGO), and Compania de Minas Buenaventura SA (ADR) (NYSE:BVN). This group of stocks belong to the gold industry and their market caps resemble AEM’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Gold Fields Limited (ADR) (NYSE:GFI) | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| Randgold Resources Ltd. (ADR) (NASDAQ:GOLD) | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| Franco-Nevada Corporation (NYSE:FNV) | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| Eldorado Gold Corp (USA) (NYSE:EGO) | 21 | 0 | 0 |
| Compania de Minas Buenaventura SA (ADR) (NYSE:BVN) | 9 | 0 | 0 |
Using the returns demonstrated by our tactics, regular investors must always keep one eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (USA) (NYSE:AEM) is no exception.
