Is Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (NYSE:PEG) a superb investment today? Hedge funds are reducing their bets on the stock. The number of bullish hedge fund bets fell by 4 in recent months.
At the moment, there are dozens of indicators shareholders can use to analyze the equity markets. A couple of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best hedge fund managers can outpace the S&P 500 by a healthy margin (see just how much).
Just as integral, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the stock market universe. Just as you’d expect, there are lots 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 method if investors understand what to do (learn more here).
Now, let’s take a peek at the key action regarding Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (NYSE:PEG).
What have hedge funds been doing with Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (NYSE:PEG)?
At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -33% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably.
When looking at the hedgies we track, David Harding’s Winton Capital Management had the largest position in Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (NYSE:PEG), worth close to $23.7 million, comprising 0.7% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, which held a $17.3 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds that hold long positions include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
Due to the fact that Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (NYSE:PEG) has witnessed falling interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, logic holds that there were a few hedgies who sold off their entire stakes last quarter. Interestingly, Charles Clough’s Clough Capital Partners sold off the biggest investment of the 450+ funds we watch, worth close to $9.9 million in stock., and John Fichthorn of Dialectic Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $9.6 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 4 funds last quarter.
What have insiders been doing with Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (NYSE:PEG)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time period, Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (NYSE:PEG) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (NYSE:PEG). These stocks are NRG Energy Inc (NYSE:NRG), NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI), Exelon Corporation (NYSE:EXC), CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP), and Northeast Utilities System (NYSE:NU). This group of stocks belong to the diversified utilities industry and their market caps resemble PEG’s market cap.
