Hedge Funds Are Crazy About Continental Resources, Inc. (CLR)

Continental Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CLR) has experienced an increase in hedge fund interest recently.

To the average investor, there are dozens of metrics market participants can use to monitor Mr. Market. Some of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best investment managers can outperform the broader indices by a superb amount (see just how much).

Equally as integral, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the stock market universe. There are plenty of motivations for an insider to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if investors understand what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, it’s important to take a gander at the latest action regarding Continental Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CLR).

What have hedge funds been doing with Continental Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CLR)?

Heading into Q2, a total of 26 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 13% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes substantially.

According to our comprehensive database, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management had the most valuable position in Continental Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CLR), worth close to $29.7 million, comprising 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Highland Capital Management, managed by James Dondero, which held a $23.4 million position; the fund has 1.9% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish include Andrew Hall’s Astenbeck Capital Management, Jeffrey Vinik’s Vinik Asset Management and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.

Consequently, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Highland Capital Management, managed by James Dondero, created the largest position in Continental Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CLR). Highland Capital Management had 23.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Charles Clough’s Clough Capital Partners also made a $10 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new CLR investors: Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital, Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group, and Daniel Arbess’s Xerion.

What have insiders been doing with Continental Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CLR)?

Bullish insider trading is best served when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time period, Continental Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CLR) has experienced 1 unique insiders buying, and 8 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Continental Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CLR). These stocks are Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC), Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK), Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE:COG), and Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD). This group of stocks are in the independent oil & gas industry and their market caps match CLR’s market cap.