Integrys Energy Group, Inc. (TEG): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

Is Integrys Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:TEG) a bargain? Hedge funds are in a bearish mood. The number of long hedge fund positions were cut by 2 lately.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are a multitude of metrics investors can use to analyze stocks. A duo of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best hedge fund managers can outperform their index-focused peers by a significant margin (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, positive insider trading activity is another way to break down the financial markets. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of reasons for a corporate insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if shareholders understand where to look (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, let’s take a glance at the recent action encompassing Integrys Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:TEG).

How are hedge funds trading Integrys Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:TEG)?

At year’s end, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -22% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.

Of the funds we track, David Harding’s Winton Capital Management had the biggest position in Integrys Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:TEG), worth close to $18.4 million, accounting for 0.5% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson of Adage Capital Management, with a $5.7 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedge funds that are bullish include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

Since Integrys Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:TEG) has experienced a declination in interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, logic holds that there was a specific group of funds who sold off their entire stakes at the end of the year. It’s worth mentioning that Tim Flannery’s Copia Capital said goodbye to the largest stake of the “upper crust” of funds we watch, worth an estimated $1.6 million in stock., and Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $0.6 million worth. These moves are interesting, as total hedge fund interest fell by 2 funds at the end of the year.

Insider trading activity in Integrys Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:TEG)

Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time period, Integrys Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:TEG) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Integrys Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:TEG). These stocks are Targa Resources Corp (NYSE:TRGP), Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO), AmeriGas Partners, L.P. (NYSE:APU), AGL Resources Inc. (NYSE:GAS), and Questar Corporation (NYSE:STR). This group of stocks belong to the gas utilities industry and their market caps are closest to TEG’s market cap.

With the results shown by the aforementioned studies, everyday investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Integrys Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:TEG) applies perfectly to this mantra.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds