Hedge Funds Are Buying Stone Energy Corporation (NYSE:SGY) – LinnCo LLC (NASDAQ:LNCO), EPL Oil & Gas Inc (NYSE:EPL)

Is Stone Energy Corporation (NYSE:SGY) a healthy stock for your portfolio? Investors who are in the know are turning bullish. The number of long hedge fund bets increased by 3 recently.

In today’s marketplace, there are dozens of metrics investors can use to analyze the equity markets. Two of the most useful 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 best fund managers can outclass their index-focused peers by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Equally as important, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the investments you’re interested in. There are a number of incentives for a corporate insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, we’re going to take a look at the recent action regarding Stone Energy Corporation (NYSE:SGY).

What does the smart money think about Stone Energy Corporation (NYSE:SGY)?

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 15 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 25% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.

Of the funds we track, Millennium Management, managed by Israel Englander, holds the largest position in Stone Energy Corporation (NYSE:SGY). Millennium Management has a $9 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Chuck Royce of Royce & Associates, with a $9 million position; the fund has 0% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that hold long positions include Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Brian Taylor’s Pine River Capital Management.

Now, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Highbridge Capital Management, managed by Glenn Russell Dubin, initiated the biggest position in Stone Energy Corporation (NYSE:SGY). Highbridge Capital Management had 9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Mike Vranos’s Ellington also made a $1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new SGY positions are Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Andrew R. Midler’s Savitr Capital, and Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors.

How are insiders trading Stone Energy Corporation (NYSE:SGY)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time period, Stone Energy Corporation (NYSE:SGY) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Stone Energy Corporation (NYSE:SGY). These stocks are LinnCo LLC (NASDAQ:LNCO), Diamondback Energy Inc (NASDAQ:FANG), QR Energy LP (NYSE:QRE), Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRZO), and EPL Oil & Gas Inc (NYSE:EPL). All of these stocks are in the independent oil & gas industry and their market caps match SGY’s market cap.

With the results shown by the aforementioned studies, everyday investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Stone Energy Corporation (NYSE:SGY) is no exception.

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