Is InterOil Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IOC) a bargain? Hedge funds are in an optimistic mood. The number of bullish hedge fund positions advanced by 1 in recent months.
In the financial world, there are plenty of methods investors can use to watch stocks. A pair of the best are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top investment managers can trounce the market by a solid amount (see just how much).
Equally as integral, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are many incentives for an executive to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Several academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).
Consequently, we’re going to take a peek at the latest action regarding InterOil Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IOC).
Hedge fund activity in InterOil Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IOC)
In preparation for this year, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 8% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully.
Of the funds we track, Charles Clough’s Clough Capital Partners had the most valuable position in InterOil Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IOC), worth close to $17.7 million, comprising 0.6% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $16 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that hold long positions include Nick Niell’s Arrowgrass Capital Partners, and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, established the most valuable position in InterOil Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IOC). Renaissance Technologies had 16 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Nick Niell’s Arrowgrass Capital Partners also made a $14.4 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are SAC Subsidiary’s CR Intrinsic Investors and Martin Hughes’s Toscafund Asset Management.
What have insiders been doing with InterOil Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IOC)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time frame, InterOil Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IOC) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, 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 InterOil Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IOC). These stocks are World Fuel Services Corporation (NYSE:INT), CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CVI), Western Refining, Inc. (NYSE:WNR), Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co. (ADR) (NYSE:SHI), and PBF Energy Inc (NYSE:PBF). This group of stocks are in the oil & gas refining & marketing industry and their market caps resemble IOC’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| World Fuel Services Corporation (NYSE:INT) | 9 | 0 | 4 |
| CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CVI) | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| Western Refining, Inc. (NYSE:WNR) | 19 | 1 | 7 |
| Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co. (ADR) (NYSE:SHI) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| PBF Energy Inc (NYSE:PBF) | 18 | 1 | 0 |
With the results shown by Insider Monkey’s tactics, everyday investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and InterOil Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IOC) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
