Hedge Funds Aren’t Crazy About TIM Participacoes SA (ADR) (TSU) Anymore

Should TIM Participacoes SA (ADR) (NYSE:TSU) investors track the following data?

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are plenty of methods investors can use to track publicly traded companies. Two of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top money managers can beat the broader indices by a solid amount (see just how much).

Just as useful, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to look at the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are a number of incentives for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Several academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if shareholders understand what to do (learn more here).

What’s more, we’re going to analyze the newest info about TIM Participacoes SA (ADR) (NYSE:TSU).

What does the smart money think about TIM Participacoes SA (ADR) (NYSE:TSU)?

Heading into Q3, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -18% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.

According to our 13F database, Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, holds the largest position in TIM Participacoes SA (ADR) (NYSE:TSU). Citadel Investment Group has a $21.6 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Millennium Management, managed by Israel Englander, which held a $15.4 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies with similar optimism include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors.

Since TIM Participacoes SA (ADR) (NYSE:TSU) has witnessed declining interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s safe to say that there was a specific group of funds that elected to cut their positions entirely in Q1. Interestingly, Josh Resnick’s Jericho Capital Asset Management dropped the biggest investment of the 450+ funds we watch, comprising close to $28.4 million in stock. Guru Ramakrishnan’s fund, Meru Capital, also dumped its stock, about $5 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 2 funds in Q1.

How have insiders been trading TIM Participacoes SA (ADR) (NYSE:TSU)?

Bullish insider trading is most useful when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time period, TIM Participacoes SA (ADR) (NYSE:TSU) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll also examine the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to TIM Participacoes SA (ADR) (NYSE:TSU). These stocks are Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (ADR) (NYSE:MBT), Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE:S), VimpelCom Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:VIP), Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. (ADR) (NYSE:TKC), and SK Telecom Co., Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:SKM). All of these stocks are in the wireless communications industry and their market caps match TSU’s market cap.