Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP (NYSE:BWP) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds of late.
At the moment, there are plenty of metrics investors can use to watch stocks. Two of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite fund managers can outclass the broader indices by a very impressive amount (see just how much).
Just as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to break down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of incentives for an executive to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Several academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if investors understand where to look (learn more here).
Now, we’re going to take a look at the recent action encompassing Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP (NYSE:BWP).
How are hedge funds trading Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP (NYSE:BWP)?
At Q1’s end, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.
According to our comprehensive database, Driehaus Capital, managed by Richard Driehaus, holds the largest position in Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP (NYSE:BWP). Driehaus Capital has a $1.9 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Bourgeon Capital, managed by John Zaro, which held a $1 million position; the fund has 0.7% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies with similar optimism include Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management, Scott Scher & Michael Prober’s Clovis Capital Management and John A. Levin’s Levin Capital Strategies.
Because Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP (NYSE:BWP) has experienced a declination in interest from hedge fund managers, it’s easy to see that there lies a certain “tier” of fund managers that decided to sell off their full holdings at the end of the first quarter. Interestingly, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies dropped the biggest investment of the 450+ funds we watch, totaling about $1.9 million in stock.. Matthew Hulsizer’s fund, PEAK6 Capital Management, also dumped its stock, about $0.6 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
How are insiders trading Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP (NYSE:BWP)?
Insider buying is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time frame, Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP (NYSE:BWP) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP (NYSE:BWP). These stocks are Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE:EEP), Cheniere Energy Partners LP (NYSEAMEX:CQP), Western Gas Partners, LP (NYSE:WES), Buckeye Partners, L.P. (NYSE:BPL), and Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. (NYSE:SXL). All of these stocks are in the oil & gas pipelines industry and their market caps are closest to BWP’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE:EEP) | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| Cheniere Energy Partners LP (NYSEAMEX:CQP) | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Western Gas Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) | 4 | 6 | 3 |
| Buckeye Partners, L.P. (NYSE:BPL) | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. (NYSE:SXL) | 6 | 2 | 1 |
With the returns exhibited by Insider Monkey’s research, everyday investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP (NYSE:BWP) is an important part of this process.
