Do Hedge Funds and Insiders Love Rowan Companies PLC (RDC)?

Is Rowan Companies PLC (NYSE:RDC) worth your attention right now? The smart money is taking a bullish view. The number of long hedge fund bets went up by 1 recently.

At the moment, there are a multitude of gauges shareholders can use to analyze stocks. A duo of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top hedge fund managers can beat the market by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to break down the financial markets. Just as you’d expect, there are a variety of incentives for an executive to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Several academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if “monkeys” understand what to do (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a look at the recent action regarding Rowan Companies PLC (NYSE:RDC).

Hedge fund activity in Rowan Companies PLC (NYSE:RDC)

Heading into Q2, a total of 27 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 4% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully.

Of the funds we track, First Pacific Advisors LLC, managed by Robert Rodriguez and Steven Romick, holds the biggest position in Rowan Companies PLC (NYSE:RDC). First Pacific Advisors LLC has a $255.6 million position in the stock, comprising 2.8% of its 13F portfolio. On First Pacific Advisors LLC’s heels is Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, which held a $73.8 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that are bullish include Daniel Gold’s QVT Financial, Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors and Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors.

As one would reasonably expect, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. First Pacific Advisors LLC, managed by Robert Rodriguez and Steven Romick, established the most valuable position in Rowan Companies PLC (NYSE:RDC). First Pacific Advisors LLC had 255.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management also initiated a $20.4 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new RDC investors: SAC Subsidiary’s Sigma Capital Management, Louis Bacon’s Moore Global Investments, and Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Rowan Companies PLC (NYSE:RDC)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time period, Rowan Companies PLC (NYSE:RDC) 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 Rowan Companies PLC (NYSE:RDC). These stocks are QEP Resources Inc (NYSE:QEP), Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE:ATW), Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN), Penn West Petroleum Ltd (USA) (NYSE:PWE), and Nabors Industries Ltd. (NYSE:NBR). This group of stocks are in the oil & gas drilling & exploration industry and their market caps match RDC’s market cap.

With the returns demonstrated by our research, retail investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Rowan Companies PLC (NYSE:RDC) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds