In the financial world, there are plenty of metrics market participants can use to track Mr. Market. Two of the most useful 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 best investment managers can beat the market by a very impressive margin (see just how much).
Just as useful, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to look at the marketplace. There are plenty of stimuli for an executive to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if you understand what to do (learn more here).
Furthermore, let’s discuss the recent info for Avista Corp (NYSE:AVA).
How have hedgies been trading Avista Corp (NYSE:AVA)?
Heading into Q3, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 9% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully.
When using filings from the hedgies we track, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management had the biggest position in Avista Corp (NYSE:AVA), worth close to $27 million, accounting for 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson of Adage Capital Management, with a $16.2 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedgies that hold long positions include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.
As industrywide interest increased, certain money managers have jumped into Avista Corp (NYSE:AVA) headfirst. Fisher Asset Management, managed by Ken Fisher, initiated the most outsized position in Avista Corp (NYSE:AVA). Fisher Asset Management had 27 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management also made a $16.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new AVA investors: Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.
How are insiders trading Avista Corp (NYSE:AVA)?
Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Avista Corp (NYSE:AVA) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also review the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Avista Corp (NYSE:AVA). These stocks are Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR), MGE Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGEE), ALLETE Inc (NYSE:ALE), PNM Resources, Inc. (NYSE:PNM), and NorthWestern Corp (NYSE:NWE). This group of stocks belong to the diversified utilities industry and their market caps match AVA’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR) | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| MGE Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGEE) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| ALLETE Inc (NYSE:ALE) | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| PNM Resources, Inc. (NYSE:PNM) | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| NorthWestern Corp (NYSE:NWE) | 17 | 0 | 0 |
Using the returns explained by the previously mentioned strategies, regular investors should always track hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Avista Corp (NYSE:AVA) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
