Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (GTE)

Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (NYSEAMEX:GTE) was in 17 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. GTE investors should be aware of a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds of late. There were 18 hedge funds in our database with GTE positions at the end of the previous quarter.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are tons of metrics shareholders can use to monitor stocks. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top money managers can beat their index-focused peers by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Just as key, positive insider trading activity is a second way to break down the financial markets. There are a number of incentives for an upper level exec to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if shareholders understand what to do (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, it’s important to take a gander at the key action regarding Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (NYSEAMEX:GTE).

What have hedge funds been doing with Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (NYSEAMEX:GTE)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 17 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -6% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully.

Of the funds we track, Amber Capital, managed by Joseph Oughourlian and Michel Brogard, holds the most valuable position in Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (NYSEAMEX:GTE). Amber Capital has a $71.4 million position in the stock, comprising 91.8% of its 13F portfolio. On Amber Capital’s heels is Steven Cohen of SAC Capital Advisors, with a $25.3 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other peers that hold long positions include Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management, Andy Redleaf’s Whitebox Advisors and Noam Gottesman’s GLG Partners.

Seeing as Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (NYSEAMEX:GTE) has witnessed bearish sentiment from the smart money, logic holds that there was a specific group of money managers that decided to sell off their full holdings at the end of the first quarter. Intriguingly, Ranjan Tandon’s Libra Advisors sold off the largest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we track, worth an estimated $18.9 million in stock.. Joseph Oughourlian and Michel Brogard’s fund, Amber Capital, also sold off its call options., about $4.1 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 1 funds at the end of the first quarter.

What have insiders been doing with Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (NYSEAMEX:GTE)?

Bullish insider trading is most useful when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time period, Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (NYSEAMEX:GTE) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (NYSEAMEX:GTE). These stocks are Crosstex Energy, L.P. (NASDAQ:XTEX), PDC Energy Inc (NASDAQ:PDCE), Bonanza Creek Energy Inc (NYSE:BCEI), EXCO Resources Inc (NYSE:XCO), and Enbridge Energy Management, L.L.C. (NYSE:EEQ). This group of stocks belong to the independent oil & gas industry and their market caps are similar to GTE’s market cap.

With the results shown by our research, everyday investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (NYSEAMEX:GTE) is no exception.

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