Questar Corporation (NYSE:STR) was in 12 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. STR has experienced an increase in hedge fund interest in recent months. There were 11 hedge funds in our database with STR positions at the end of the previous quarter.
To most traders, hedge funds are assumed to be slow, old financial vehicles of years past. While there are more than 8000 funds with their doors open at present, we choose to focus on the crème de la crème of this group, close to 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group has its hands on the lion’s share of the hedge fund industry’s total asset base, and by monitoring their highest performing stock picks, we have brought to light a number of investment strategies that have historically outstripped the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per 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 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (see the details here).
Keeping this in mind, we’re going to take a glance at the key action encompassing Questar Corporation (NYSE:STR).
What does the smart money think about Questar Corporation (NYSE:STR)?
In preparation for this quarter, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 9% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly.
Of the funds we track, John Osterweis’s Osterweis Capital Management had the most valuable position in Questar Corporation (NYSE:STR), worth close to $83 million, accounting for 3.2% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Millennium Management, managed by Israel Englander, which held a $11.3 million call position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other peers with similar optimism include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Sean Cullinan’s Point State Capital and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
Now, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Point State Capital, managed by Sean Cullinan, initiated the biggest position in Questar Corporation (NYSE:STR). Point State Capital had 4.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors also made a $0.3 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The only other fund with a brand new STR position is Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management.
What have insiders been doing with Questar Corporation (NYSE:STR)?
Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time frame, Questar Corporation (NYSE:STR) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Questar Corporation (NYSE:STR). These stocks are Targa Resources Corp (NYSE:TRGP), AGL Resources Inc. (NYSE:GAS), Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO), Integrys Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:TEG), and AmeriGas Partners, L.P. (NYSE:APU). This group of stocks are the members of the gas utilities industry and their market caps match STR’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Targa Resources Corp (NYSE:TRGP) | 13 | 0 | 1 |
| AGL Resources Inc. (NYSE:GAS) | 12 | 0 | 4 |
| Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) | 6 | 0 | 3 |
| Integrys Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:TEG) | 8 | 0 | 10 |
| AmeriGas Partners, L.P. (NYSE:APU) | 4 | 1 | 0 |
With the returns shown by the aforementioned strategies, everyday investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Questar Corporation (NYSE:STR) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
