TOTAL S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:TOT) is one of the most popular foreign oil stocks among U.S. investors. Are you surprised to find that the world’s smartest investors were bulking up on it heavily last quarter?
In the eyes of many market players, hedge funds are seen as overrated, outdated investment tools of a period lost to current times. Although there are more than 8,000 hedge funds in operation currently, this site aim at the elite of this club, around 525 funds. It is assumed that this group has its hands on most of the smart money’s total capital, and by watching their highest quality stock picks, we’ve spotted a few investment strategies that have historically beaten the S&P 500. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have beaten the S&P 500 index by 33 percentage points in 11 months (see all of our picks from August).
Just as necessary, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to analyze the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are plenty of incentives for a corporate insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if piggybackers understand what to do (learn more here).
What’s more, let’s discuss the latest info about TOTAL S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:TOT).
What does the smart money think about TOTAL S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:TOT)?
In preparation for the third quarter, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 38% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes substantially.
When using filings from the hedgies we track, International Value Advisers, managed by Charles de Vaulx, holds the most valuable position in TOTAL S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:TOT). International Value Advisers has a $183.6 million position in the stock, comprising 4.9% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Seminole Capital (Investment Mgmt), managed by Michael Messner, which held a $94.3 million position; 5.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds that hold long positions include David Dreman’s Dreman Value Management, Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors and SAC Subsidiary’s Sigma Capital Management.
With a general bullishness amongst the titans, particular hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. International Value Advisers, managed by Charles de Vaulx, assembled the most outsized position in TOTAL S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:TOT). International Value Advisers had 183.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Michael Messner’s Seminole Capital (Investment Mgmt) also initiated a $94.3 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new TOT investors: David Dreman’s Dreman Value Management, Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors, and SAC Subsidiary’s Sigma Capital Management.
How are insiders trading TOTAL S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:TOT)?
Insider buying made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time period, TOTAL S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:TOT) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also review the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to TOTAL S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:TOT). These stocks are Statoil ASA (ADR) (NYSE:STO), Eni SpA (ADR) (NYSE:E), BP plc (ADR) (NYSE:BP), China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (ADR) (NYSE:SNP), and Ecopetrol S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:EC). This group of stocks are in the major integrated oil & gas industry and their market caps are closest to TOT’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Statoil ASA (ADR) (NYSE:STO) | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| Eni SpA (ADR) (NYSE:E) | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| BP plc (ADR) (NYSE:BP) | 38 | 0 | 0 |
| China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (ADR) (NYSE:SNP) | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Ecopetrol S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:EC) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Using the results demonstrated by our strategies, average investors must always track hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and TOTAL S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:TOT) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
