Penn West Petroleum Ltd (USA) (NYSE:PWE) was in 7 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. PWE investors should be aware of a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money recently. There were 11 hedge funds in our database with PWE positions at the end of the previous quarter.
At the moment, there are plenty of methods investors can use to track the equity markets. A couple of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top money managers can trounce the broader indices by a healthy amount (see just how much).
Just as beneficial, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the stock market universe. Obviously, there are lots of reasons for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).
Now, we’re going to take a peek at the latest action surrounding Penn West Petroleum Ltd (USA) (NYSE:PWE).
How have hedgies been trading Penn West Petroleum Ltd (USA) (NYSE:PWE)?
In preparation for this year, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -36% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.
When looking at the hedgies we track, First Eagle Investment Management, managed by Jean-Marie Eveillard, holds the largest position in Penn West Petroleum Ltd (USA) (NYSE:PWE). First Eagle Investment Management has a $362.1 million position in the stock, comprising 1.3% of its 13F portfolio. On First Eagle Investment Management’s heels is Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management, with a $2.7 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other peers that hold long positions include Murray Stahl’s Horizon Asset Management, Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
Due to the fact that Penn West Petroleum Ltd (USA) (NYSE:PWE) has faced falling interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, logic holds that there was a specific group of funds who were dropping their entire stakes last quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Roger Keith Long’s Otter Creek Management said goodbye to the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds we key on, worth close to $5.3 million in stock., and Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson of Adage Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $2.2 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 4 funds last quarter.
How have insiders been trading Penn West Petroleum Ltd (USA) (NYSE:PWE)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Penn West Petroleum Ltd (USA) (NYSE:PWE) has seen 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 Penn West Petroleum Ltd (USA) (NYSE:PWE). These stocks are Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP), Rowan Companies PLC (NYSE:RDC), Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL), Nabors Industries Ltd. (NYSE:NBR), and QEP Resources Inc (NYSE:QEP). This group of stocks belong to the oil & gas drilling & exploration industry and their market caps resemble PWE’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) | 26 | 1 | 2 |
| Rowan Companies PLC (NYSE:RDC) | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL) | 25 | 0 | 1 |
| Nabors Industries Ltd. (NYSE:NBR) | 21 | 0 | 0 |
| QEP Resources Inc (NYSE:QEP) | 20 | 0 | 1 |
With the returns demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s time-tested strategies, retail investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Penn West Petroleum Ltd (USA) (NYSE:PWE) is an important part of this process.
