Hedge Funds Aren’t Crazy About Sociedad Quimica y Minera (ADR) (SQM) Anymore

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (ADR) (NYSE:SQM) was in 9 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. SQM has experienced a decrease in hedge fund sentiment in recent months. There were 13 hedge funds in our database with SQM positions at the end of the previous quarter.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (ADR) (NYSE:SQM)According to most shareholders, hedge funds are perceived as worthless, outdated financial tools of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8000 funds with their doors open at the moment, we choose to focus on the moguls of this club, close to 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group controls most of the smart money’s total capital, and by paying attention to their top equity investments, we have come up with a few investment strategies that have historically outperformed Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outperformed the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (check out a sample of our picks).

Just as integral, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are a number of incentives for an upper level exec to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if piggybackers understand what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, it’s important to take a peek at the key action encompassing Sociedad Quimica y Minera (ADR) (NYSE:SQM).

What does the smart money think about Sociedad Quimica y Minera (ADR) (NYSE:SQM)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -31% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably.

Of the funds we track, AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, holds the most valuable position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera (ADR) (NYSE:SQM). AQR Capital Management has a $25.2 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which held a $12.6 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that are bullish include Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Jane Mendillo’s Harvard Management Co.

Seeing as Sociedad Quimica y Minera (ADR) (NYSE:SQM) has witnessed a declination in interest from the smart money, it’s easy to see that there is a sect of money managers that decided to sell off their positions entirely heading into Q2. At the top of the heap, Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital dumped the largest position of all the hedgies we watch, worth close to $2.5 million in stock.. John Overdeck and David Siegel’s fund, Two Sigma Advisors, also sold off its stock, about $2.3 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 4 funds heading into Q2.

How are insiders trading Sociedad Quimica y Minera (ADR) (NYSE:SQM)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time period, Sociedad Quimica y Minera (ADR) (NYSE:SQM) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Sociedad Quimica y Minera (ADR) (NYSE:SQM). These stocks are Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH), Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE), FMC Corp (NYSE:FMC), Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN), and Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD). This group of stocks are in the chemicals – major diversified industry and their market caps match SQM’s market cap.

Company Name # of Hedge Funds # of Insiders Buying # of Insiders Selling
Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) 32 0 4
Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) 21 0 2
FMC Corp (NYSE:FMC) 23 0 1
Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) 40 0 8
Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) 23 0 4

With the returns demonstrated by the aforementioned strategies, retail investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Sociedad Quimica y Minera (ADR) (NYSE:SQM) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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