This Metric Says You Are Smart to Sell Sasol Limited (ADR) (SSL)

Sasol Limited (ADR) (NYSE:SSL) investors should pay attention to a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers recently.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are plenty of methods shareholders can use to track the equity markets. A couple of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can beat the broader indices by a solid amount (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are lots of motivations for an insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, we’re going to take a peek at the key action encompassing Sasol Limited (ADR) (NYSE:SSL).

How are hedge funds trading Sasol Limited (ADR) (NYSE:SSL)?

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -13% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies had the most valuable position in Sasol Limited (ADR) (NYSE:SSL), worth close to $9.9 million, comprising less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Millennium Management, managed by Israel Englander, which held a $3.1 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedgies with similar optimism include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.

Judging by the fact that Sasol Limited (ADR) (NYSE:SSL) has faced bearish sentiment from the smart money, it’s easy to see that there lies a certain “tier” of hedgies that decided to sell off their full holdings last quarter. Interestingly, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management said goodbye to the biggest investment of all the hedgies we track, worth about $23.8 million in stock.. Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s fund, Arrowstreet Capital, also said goodbye to its stock, about $12.1 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds last quarter.

How are insiders trading Sasol Limited (ADR) (NYSE:SSL)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time period, Sasol Limited (ADR) (NYSE:SSL) has seen zero unique insiders buying, 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 Sasol Limited (ADR) (NYSE:SSL). These stocks are Eni SpA (ADR) (NYSE:E), Statoil ASA (ADR) (NYSE:STO), ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY), and EnCana Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ECA). This group of stocks are the members of the major integrated oil & gas industry and their market caps resemble SSL’s market cap.

With the returns exhibited by the aforementioned time-tested strategies, everyday investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Sasol Limited (ADR) (NYSE:SSL) applies perfectly to this mantra.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds