This Metric Says You Are Smart to Buy TETRA Technologies, Inc. (TTI)

TETRA Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:TTI) was in 13 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. TTI shareholders have witnessed an increase in hedge fund interest recently. There were 12 hedge funds in our database with TTI holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

In the financial world, there are dozens of metrics investors can use to watch stocks. A duo of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top fund managers can outperform their index-focused peers by a significant amount (see just how much).

Equally as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the stock market universe. Obviously, there are many motivations for a bullish insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if shareholders know where to look (learn more here).

Now, let’s take a gander at the latest action encompassing TETRA Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:TTI).

What does the smart money think about TETRA Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:TTI)?

In preparation for this year, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 8% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Roumell Asset Management, managed by Jim Roumell, holds the largest position in TETRA Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:TTI). Roumell Asset Management has a $12.3 million position in the stock, comprising 7.9% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Jeffrey Smith of Starboard Value LP, with a $7.2 million position; the fund has 0.8% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds with similar optimism include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

Now, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves. Starboard Value LP, managed by Jeffrey Smith, initiated the largest position in TETRA Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:TTI). Starboard Value LP had 7.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jay Petschek and Steven Major’s Corsair Capital Management also made a $0.8 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new TTI positions are Zeke Ashton’s Centaur Capital Partners and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about TETRA Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:TTI)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time period, TETRA Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:TTI) has experienced 7 unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to TETRA Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:TTI). These stocks are C&J Energy Services Inc (NYSE:CJES), Tesco Corporation (USA) (NASDAQ:TESO), Basic Energy Services, Inc (NYSE:BAS), GulfMark Offshore, Inc. (NYSE:GLF), and Newpark Resources Inc (NYSE:NR). This group of stocks are the members of the oil & gas equipment & services industry and their market caps are closest to TTI’s market cap.

With the returns shown by Insider Monkey’s time-tested strategies, everyday investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and TETRA Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:TTI) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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