American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NYSE:AEP) has seen a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds of late.
To most traders, hedge funds are seen as slow, outdated financial vehicles of the past. While there are more than 8000 funds with their doors open at the moment, we at Insider Monkey look at the upper echelon of this club, close to 450 funds. It is estimated that this group has its hands on the lion’s share of all hedge funds’ total capital, and by monitoring their top investments, we have determined a few investment strategies that have historically outperformed the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outpaced the S&P 500 index by 25 percentage points in 6.5 month (explore the details and some picks here).
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Keeping this in mind, it’s important to take a gander at the recent action surrounding American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NYSE:AEP).
Hedge fund activity in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NYSE:AEP)
At year’s end, a total of 16 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -11% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.
Of the funds we track, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management had the biggest position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NYSE:AEP), worth close to $91 million, comprising 0.3% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, which held a $52 million position; 0.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other peers that are bullish include Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital, John A. Levin’s Levin Capital Strategies and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
Since American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NYSE:AEP) has faced falling interest from the smart money, it’s safe to say that there is a sect of hedge funds who sold off their full holdings heading into 2013. Intriguingly, Charles Clough’s Clough Capital Partners said goodbye to the biggest investment of the 450+ funds we track, totaling an estimated $12 million in stock., and Israel Englander of Millennium Management was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $4 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as total hedge fund interest fell by 2 funds heading into 2013.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NYSE:AEP)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time frame, American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NYSE:AEP) has seen 2 unique insiders buying, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the results demonstrated by the aforementioned studies, retail investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NYSE:AEP) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
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