Sanchez Energy Corp (NYSE:SN) was in 7 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. SN shareholders have witnessed a decrease in hedge fund sentiment recently. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with SN positions at the end of the previous quarter.
In the financial world, there are dozens of gauges shareholders can use to track the equity markets. Some of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top money managers can trounce the broader indices by a healthy margin (see just how much).
Equally as key, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are plenty of incentives for an insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).
Now, we’re going to take a peek at the latest action encompassing Sanchez Energy Corp (NYSE:SN).
What have hedge funds been doing with Sanchez Energy Corp (NYSE:SN)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -22% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.
Of the funds we track, SAC Capital Advisors, managed by Steven Cohen, holds the most valuable position in Sanchez Energy Corp (NYSE:SN). SAC Capital Advisors has a $6.8 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. On SAC Capital Advisors’s heels is Ken Griffin of Citadel Investment Group, with a $6.1 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining peers that are bullish include Richard Schimel’s Diamondback Capital, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors and Russell Lucas’s Lucas Capital Management.
Seeing as Sanchez Energy Corp (NYSE:SN) has experienced a declination in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, logic holds that there were a few hedgies that elected to cut their entire stakes last quarter. At the top of the heap, Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital sold off the biggest investment of all the hedgies we key on, worth close to $1.8 million in stock., and Tim Flannery of Copia Capital was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $1.5 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds last quarter.
How have insiders been trading Sanchez Energy Corp (NYSE:SN)?
Bullish insider trading is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time period, Sanchez Energy Corp (NYSE:SN) has experienced 1 unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Sanchez Energy Corp (NYSE:SN). These stocks are Delek Logistics Partners LP (NYSE:DKL), Swift Energy Company (NYSE:SFY), Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust (NYSE:CHKR), Resolute Energy Corp (NYSE:REN), and San Juan Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE:SJT). This group of stocks belong to the independent oil & gas industry and their market caps match SN’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Delek Logistics Partners LP (NYSE:DKL) | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| Swift Energy Company (NYSE:SFY) | 14 | 5 | 0 |
| Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust (NYSE:CHKR) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Resolute Energy Corp (NYSE:REN) | 12 | 0 | 3 |
| San Juan Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE:SJT) | 5 | 0 | 0 |
With the results exhibited by our studies, everyday investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Sanchez Energy Corp (NYSE:SN) is an important part of this process.
