Should You Avoid Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc (USA) (TC)?

Is it smart to be bullish on Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc (USA) (NYSE:TC)?

To the average investor, there are many indicators shareholders can use to watch publicly traded companies. Some of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite hedge fund managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a solid amount (see just how much).

Just as useful, positive insider trading activity is a second way to look at the financial markets. Just as you’d expect, there are many stimuli for a bullish insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if shareholders understand what to do (learn more here).

Now that that’s out of the way, it’s important to examine the newest info surrounding Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc (USA) (NYSE:TC).

What does the smart money think about Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc (USA) (NYSE:TC)?

Heading into Q3, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -9% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly.

When using filings from the hedgies we track, Highbridge Capital Management, managed by Glenn Russell Dubin, holds the biggest position in Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc (USA) (NYSE:TC). Highbridge Capital Management has a $14 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is John M. Angelo and Michael L. Gordon of Angelo Gordon & Co, with a $7.4 million position; the fund has 0.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds that are bullish include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.

Due to the fact Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc (USA) (NYSE:TC) has faced declining interest from the top-tier hedge fund industry, logic holds that there exists a select few funds that elected to cut their full holdings heading into Q2. At the top of the heap, Bart Baum’s Ionic Capital Management cut the largest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we monitor, comprising close to $1.3 million in stock, and Bart Baum of Ionic Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $1.3 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest fell by 1 funds heading into Q2.

How have insiders been trading Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc (USA) (NYSE:TC)?

Bullish insider trading is most useful when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time frame, Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc (USA) (NYSE:TC) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll also examine the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc (USA) (NYSE:TC). These stocks are MFC Industrial Ltd (NYSE:MIL), Denison Mines Corp (USA) (NYSEAMEX:DNN), HORSEHEAD HOLDING CORP. (NASDAQ:ZINC), Taseko Mines Limited (USA) (NYSEAMEX:TGB), and Hi-Crush Partners LP (NYSE:HCLP). This group of stocks are the members of the industrial metals & minerals industry and their market caps match TC’s market cap.