British American Tobacco PLC (ADR) (NYSEAMEX:BTI) was in 10 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. BTI has experienced a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers of late. There were 10 hedge funds in our database with BTI holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
In today’s marketplace, there are a multitude of indicators shareholders can use to monitor their holdings. Two of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best investment managers can beat the market by a healthy margin (see just how much).
Just as key, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the world of equities. There are a number of motivations for an executive to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if “monkeys” understand what to do (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, it’s important to take a gander at the latest action surrounding British American Tobacco PLC (ADR) (NYSEAMEX:BTI).
What have hedge funds been doing with British American Tobacco PLC (ADR) (NYSEAMEX:BTI)?
At Q1’s end, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 0% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Fisher Asset Management, managed by Ken Fisher, holds the most valuable position in British American Tobacco PLC (ADR) (NYSEAMEX:BTI). Fisher Asset Management has a $363.2 million position in the stock, comprising 1% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Gardner Russo & Gardner, managed by Tom Russo, which held a $247.9 million position; the fund has 2.9% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedgies that are bullish include Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital, Malcolm Fairbairn’s Ascend Capital and Robert B. Gillam’s McKinley Capital Management.
Since British American Tobacco PLC (ADR) (NYSEAMEX:BTI) has faced a declination in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there is a sect of hedgies that slashed their full holdings heading into Q2. Intriguingly, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw said goodbye to the biggest stake of the 450+ funds we track, valued at close to $3.7 million in stock.. Ken Griffin’s fund, Citadel Investment Group, also sold off its stock, about $0.6 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
What have insiders been doing with British American Tobacco PLC (ADR) (NYSEAMEX:BTI)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time period, British American Tobacco PLC (ADR) (NYSEAMEX:BTI) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to British American Tobacco PLC (ADR) (NYSEAMEX:BTI). These stocks are Vector Group Ltd (NYSE:VGR), Lorillard Inc. (NYSE:LO), Reynolds American, Inc. (NYSE:RAI), Altria Group Inc (NYSE:MO), and Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM). This group of stocks are the members of the cigarettes industry and their market caps are closest to BTI’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Vector Group Ltd (NYSE:VGR) | 8 | 1 | 3 |
| Lorillard Inc. (NYSE:LO) | 24 | 0 | 5 |
| Reynolds American, Inc. (NYSE:RAI) | 15 | 0 | 15 |
| Altria Group Inc (NYSE:MO) | 30 | 0 | 3 |
| Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) | 49 | 1 | 7 |
With the results exhibited by Insider Monkey’s studies, retail investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and British American Tobacco PLC (ADR) (NYSEAMEX:BTI) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
