Tidewater Inc. (TDW): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in hedge fund interest in recent months.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are tons of metrics shareholders can use to monitor publicly traded companies. A pair of the most under-the-radar 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 elite fund managers can outclass the market by a very impressive margin (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, bullish insider trading activity is another way to break down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are plenty of incentives for a bullish insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if you know what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, let’s take a look at the key action surrounding Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW).

How have hedgies been trading Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -14% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.

According to our comprehensive database, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the most valuable position in Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW), worth close to $66 million, comprising 0.2% of its total 13F portfolio. On Royce & Associates’s heels is Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, which held a $18.5 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other peers with similar optimism include Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Jeffrey Gendell’s Tontine Asset Management and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

Because Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW) has experienced bearish sentiment from hedge fund managers, logic holds that there is a sect of money managers that decided to sell off their positions entirely in Q1. Intriguingly, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies dropped the biggest stake of all the hedgies we key on, valued at about $10.2 million in stock., and Richard Driehaus of Driehaus Capital was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $5.5 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest fell by 2 funds in Q1.

How are insiders trading Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW)?

Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the returns exhibited by our tactics, retail investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW) is an important part of this process.

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