This Metric Says You Are Smart to Buy Telephone & Data Systems, Inc. (TDS)

Telephone & Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) was in 19 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. TDS investors should pay attention to an increase in hedge fund interest recently. There were 17 hedge funds in our database with TDS positions at the end of the previous quarter.

At the moment, there are plenty of methods shareholders can use to monitor the equity markets. A couple of the best are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can outclass their index-focused peers by a solid amount (see just how much).

Just as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to break down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are a number of motivations for an upper level exec to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a peek at the key action surrounding Telephone & Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS).

How are hedge funds trading Telephone & Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 19 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 12% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors had the most valuable position in Telephone & Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS), worth close to $111 million, accounting for 0.7% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, which held a $26.8 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish include Charles de Vaulx’s International Value Advisers, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.

As one would reasonably expect, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Luxor Capital Group, managed by Christian Leone, created the most valuable position in Telephone & Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS). Luxor Capital Group had 5.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Louis Bacon’s Moore Global Investments also initiated a $4.2 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new TDS investors: Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.

Insider trading activity in Telephone & Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS)

Insider buying is best served when the company in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time period, Telephone & Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Telephone & Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS). These stocks are Portugal Telecom, SGPS (ADR) (NYSE:PT), Ubiquiti Networks Inc (NASDAQ:UBNT), MetroPCS Communications Inc (NYSE:PCS), United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM), and InterDigital, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDCC). This group of stocks are in the wireless communications industry and their market caps match TDS’s market cap.

With the results exhibited by the aforementioned tactics, retail investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Telephone & Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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