Here is What Hedge Funds Think About BT Group plc (ADR) (BT)

Is BT Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:BT) undervalued? The smart money is becoming less hopeful. The number of long hedge fund bets retreated by 1 recently.

To the average investor, there are tons of gauges investors can use to monitor publicly traded companies. A duo of the best are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top hedge fund managers can trounce the market by a superb amount (see just how much).

Just as integral, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the stock market universe. Just as you’d expect, there are lots of reasons for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if investors understand where to look (learn more here).

Now, let’s take a gander at the key action surrounding BT Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:BT).

How are hedge funds trading BT Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:BT)?

In preparation for this year, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -11% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the biggest position in BT Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:BT). Renaissance Technologies has a $34.9 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. On Renaissance Technologies’s heels is Bailard Inc, managed by Thomas Bailard, which held a $2.5 million position; 0.5% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other peers that hold long positions include Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors and David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments.

Because BT Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:BT) has experienced bearish sentiment from the smart money, logic holds that there is a sect of hedge funds who were dropping their full holdings heading into 2013. Interestingly, Mike Vranos’s Ellington sold off the biggest investment of all the hedgies we watch, comprising about $0.8 million in stock.. Louis Navellier’s fund, Navellier & Associates, also dropped its stock, about $0.5 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds heading into 2013.

Insider trading activity in BT Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:BT)

Insider buying is best served when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time frame, BT Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:BT) has seen 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 BT Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:BT). These stocks are Telefonica S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:TEF), Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp (ADR) (NYSE:NTT), PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (ADR) (NYSE:TLK), China Telecom Corporation Limited (ADR) (NYSE:CHA), and France Telecom SA (ADR) (NYSE:FTE). All of these stocks are in the telecom services – foreign industry and their market caps are closest to BT’s market cap.

With the returns demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s tactics, everyday investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and BT Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:BT) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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