At the moment, there are dozens of metrics shareholders can use to analyze the equity markets. A couple of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top fund managers can trounce the market by a superb margin (see just how much).
Just as crucial, positive insider trading activity is a second way to analyze the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of reasons for an executive to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if you understand where to look (learn more here).
Now that that’s out of the way, it’s important to study the recent info about United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM).
How have hedgies been trading United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM)?
Heading into Q3, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 17% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably.
According to our 13F database, Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors had the most valuable position in United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM), worth close to $132.8 million, comprising 0.8% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Charles de Vaulx of International Value Advisers, with a $19.8 million position; the fund has 0.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that are bullish include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
As industrywide interest increased, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. GAMCO Investors, managed by Mario Gabelli, created the largest position in United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM). GAMCO Investors had 132.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Charles de Vaulx’s International Value Advisers also initiated a $19.8 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
What have insiders been doing with United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM)?
Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time frame, United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM) has seen zero unique insiders buying, 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 United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM). These stocks are Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ:CLWR), InterDigital, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDCC), Portugal Telecom, SGPS (ADR) (NYSE:PT), Telephone & Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS), and MetroPCS Communications Inc (NYSE:PCS). All of these stocks are in the wireless communications industry and their market caps are similar to USM’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ:CLWR) | 35 | 0 | 0 |
| InterDigital, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDCC) | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| Portugal Telecom, SGPS (ADR) (NYSE:PT) | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Telephone & Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS) | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| MetroPCS Communications Inc (NYSE:PCS) | 0 | 0 |
Using the returns shown by Insider Monkey’s studies, average investors must always keep one eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
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