IDACORP Inc (NYSE:IDA) has experienced a decrease in hedge fund interest in recent months.
In the eyes of most market participants, hedge funds are assumed to be worthless, old financial vehicles of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8000 funds trading at the moment, we hone in on the elite of this club, about 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group controls most of the smart money’s total capital, and by watching their top investments, we have brought to light a few investment strategies that have historically outstripped the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points a year 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 outclassed the S&P 500 index by 24 percentage points in 7 months (see all of our picks from August).
Equally as important, positive insider trading activity is another way to break down the stock market universe. As the old adage goes: there are a variety of reasons for an insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a gander at the latest action regarding IDACORP Inc (NYSE:IDA).
What have hedge funds been doing with IDACORP Inc (NYSE:IDA)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 0% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly.
Of the funds we track, Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management had the largest position in IDACORP Inc (NYSE:IDA), worth close to $192.3 million, comprising 0.7% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Dreman Value Management, managed by David Dreman, which held a $29.9 million position; 0.9% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds with similar optimism include Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
Due to the fact that IDACORP Inc (NYSE:IDA) has witnessed falling interest from the smart money, it’s safe to say that there was a specific group of fund managers that slashed their full holdings last quarter. Intriguingly, Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management sold off the largest investment of the 450+ funds we track, totaling close to $2.7 million in stock., and Ken Gray and Steve Walsh of Bryn Mawr Capital was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $2.1 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
What do corporate executives and insiders think about IDACORP Inc (NYSE:IDA)?
Bullish insider trading is best served when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time period, IDACORP Inc (NYSE:IDA) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to IDACORP Inc (NYSE:IDA). These stocks are UIL Holdings Corporation (NYSE:UIL), UNS Energy Corp (NYSE:UNS), Cleco Corporation (NYSE:CNL), Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HE), and Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR). All of these stocks are in the electric utilities industry and their market caps are similar to IDA’s market cap.
