Is DTE Energy Co (NYSE:DTE) a worthy investment today? Investors who are in the know are taking a bearish view. The number of bullish hedge fund positions stayed the same which is a slightly negative development in our experience
To the average investor, there are tons of metrics investors can use to watch publicly traded companies. A duo of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite investment managers can outperform the S&P 500 by a solid margin (see just how much).
Equally as important, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the financial markets. Obviously, there are a number of incentives for a bullish insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Several academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if piggybackers know what to do (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, let’s take a gander at the latest action encompassing DTE Energy Co (NYSE:DTE).
Hedge fund activity in DTE Energy Co (NYSE:DTE)
In preparation for this quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 0% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.
When looking at the hedgies we track, AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, holds the biggest position in DTE Energy Co (NYSE:DTE). AQR Capital Management has a $65.1 million position in the stock, comprising 0.3% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson of Adage Capital Management, with a $56.7 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds that are bullish include David Harding’s Winton Capital Management, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
Seeing as DTE Energy Co (NYSE:DTE) has witnessed bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, logic holds that there is a sect of funds who were dropping their positions entirely at the end of the first quarter. Interestingly, Thomas M. Fitzgerald’s Longbow Capital Partners sold off the largest position of the 450+ funds we track, valued at about $2.8 million in stock.. Ben Levine, Andrew Manuel and Stefan Renold’s fund, LMR Partners, also dumped its stock, about $0.5 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
What do corporate executives and insiders think about DTE Energy Co (NYSE:DTE)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last six-month time period, DTE Energy Co (NYSE:DTE) has experienced 1 unique insiders buying, and 11 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to DTE Energy Co (NYSE:DTE). These stocks are Empresa Nacional de Electricidad (ADR) (NYSE:EOC), Xcel Energy Inc (NYSE:XEL), Wisconsin Energy Corporation (NYSE:WEC), Companhia Energetica Minas Gerais (ADR) (NYSE:CIG), and Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR). This group of stocks belong to the electric utilities industry and their market caps are closest to DTE’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Empresa Nacional de Electricidad (ADR) (NYSE:EOC) | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Xcel Energy Inc (NYSE:XEL) | 13 | 3 | 0 |
| Wisconsin Energy Corporation (NYSE:WEC) | 9 | 1 | 6 |
| Companhia Energetica Minas Gerais (ADR) (NYSE:CIG) | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) | 15 | 0 | 1 |
With the results exhibited by the aforementioned studies, retail investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and DTE Energy Co (NYSE:DTE) is an important part of this process.
