Should You Buy Trina Solar Limited (ADR) (TSL)?

Trina Solar Limited (ADR) (NYSE:TSL) was in 9 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. TSL investors should pay attention to an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers in recent months. There were 8 hedge funds in our database with TSL positions at the end of the previous quarter.

To the average investor, there are tons of gauges shareholders can use to watch Mr. Market. Two of the most under-the-radar 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 top investment managers can outclass the broader indices by a superb margin (see just how much).

Equally as key, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are a number of motivations for a bullish insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if piggybackers know what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a look at the latest action encompassing Trina Solar Limited (ADR) (NYSE:TSL).

How are hedge funds trading Trina Solar Limited (ADR) (NYSE:TSL)?

At year’s end, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 13% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes substantially.

Of the funds we track, Kerr Neilson’s Platinum Asset Management had the biggest position in Trina Solar Limited (ADR) (NYSE:TSL), worth close to $42.5 million, accounting for 1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Mouth Kellett Capital Management, managed by Mark McGoldrick and Jason Maynard, which held a $13.6 million position; the fund has 1.7% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish include John A. Levin’s Levin Capital Strategies, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Himanshu H. Shah’s Shah Capital Management.

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, some big names have been driving this bullishness. Shah Capital Management, managed by Himanshu H. Shah, assembled the biggest position in Trina Solar Limited (ADR) (NYSE:TSL). Shah Capital Management had 2.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Andrew R. Midler’s Savitr Capital also initiated a $1.1 million position during the quarter. The only other fund with a brand new TSL position is Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

How are insiders trading Trina Solar Limited (ADR) (NYSE:TSL)?

Insider buying is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time frame, Trina Solar Limited (ADR) (NYSE:TSL) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Trina Solar Limited (ADR) (NYSE:TSL). These stocks are GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:GTAT), Alpha and Omega Semiconductor Ltd (NASDAQ:AOSL), CEVA, Inc. (NASDAQ:CEVA), NVE Corporation (NASDAQ:NVEC), and IXYS Corporation (NASDAQ:IXYS). This group of stocks belong to the semiconductor – specialized industry and their market caps match TSL’s market cap.

With the returns demonstrated by the aforementioned research, retail investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Trina Solar Limited (ADR) (NYSE:TSL) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds