Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) was in 27 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. HP shareholders have witnessed a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money lately. There were 27 hedge funds in our database with HP holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
According to most investors, hedge funds are seen as slow, outdated investment vehicles of yesteryear. While there are more than 8000 funds trading today, we hone in on the aristocrats of this group, about 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group oversees the majority of the smart money’s total asset base, and by tracking their highest performing stock picks, we have figured out a number of investment strategies that have historically beaten the S&P 500 index. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outclassed the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (explore the details and some picks here).
With these “truths” under our belt, let’s take a gander at the key action regarding Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP).
How are hedge funds trading Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)?
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 27 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 0% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly.
Of the funds we track, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the biggest position in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP), worth close to $200.7 million, accounting for 0.6% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Robert Bishop of Impala Asset Management, with a $90.7 million position; the fund has 4.7% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers with similar optimism include Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
Due to the fact that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) has faced a declination in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few money managers that decided to sell off their entire stakes in Q1. At the top of the heap, Sean Cullinan’s Point State Capital sold off the biggest investment of all the hedgies we watch, comprising about $30.4 million in stock., and Clint Carlson of Carlson Capital was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $19.3 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as total hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
What have insiders been doing with Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is most useful when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time frame, Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) has seen 1 unique insiders buying, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP). These stocks are Nabors Industries Ltd. (NYSE:NBR), Penn West Petroleum Ltd (USA) (NYSE:PWE), QEP Resources Inc (NYSE:QEP), Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL), and Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSEAMEX:LNG). This group of stocks belong to the oil & gas drilling & exploration industry and their market caps are similar to HP’s market cap.
