Hedge Funds Are Betting On AGL Resources Inc. (GAS)

Is AGL Resources Inc. (NYSE:GAS) a good investment?

At the moment, there are tons of gauges investors can use to analyze their holdings. Two of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top money managers can beat the market by a significant amount (see just how much).

Equally as useful, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to analyze the financial markets. Obviously, there are lots of incentives for an upper level exec to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if “monkeys” understand what to do (learn more here).

Furthermore, we’re going to study the recent info surrounding AGL Resources Inc. (NYSE:GAS).

What does the smart money think about AGL Resources Inc. (NYSE:GAS)?

Heading into Q3, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 8% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably.

When using filings from the hedgies we track, Adage Capital Management, managed by Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson, holds the most valuable position in AGL Resources Inc. (NYSE:GAS). Adage Capital Management has a $71.9 million position in the stock, comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Winton Capital Management, managed by David Harding, which held a $26.1 million position; the fund has 0.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies that are bullish include Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and David Dreman’s Dreman Value Management.

With a general bullishness amongst the titans, certain bigger names were leading the bulls’ herd. Adage Capital Management, managed by Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson, established the largest position in AGL Resources Inc. (NYSE:GAS). Adage Capital Management had 71.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. David Harding’s Winton Capital Management also initiated a $26.1 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new GAS investors: Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, and David Dreman’s Dreman Value Management.

How have insiders been trading AGL Resources Inc. (NYSE:GAS)?

Insider buying made by high-level executives is most useful when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time frame, AGL Resources Inc. (NYSE:GAS) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll also review the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to AGL Resources Inc. (NYSE:GAS). These stocks are Western Gas Equity Partners LP (NYSE:WGP), Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO), AmeriGas Partners, L.P. (NYSE:APU), Questar Corporation (NYSE:STR), and Integrys Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:TEG). This group of stocks are the members of the gas utilities industry and their market caps resemble GAS’s market cap.