Is UIL Holdings Corporation (NYSE:UIL) worth your attention right now? Prominent investors are reducing their bets on the stock. The number of long hedge fund bets retreated by 4 lately.
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Equally as important, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are a number of motivations for an executive to cut 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 investors know what to do (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a gander at the recent action surrounding UIL Holdings Corporation (NYSE:UIL).
How have hedgies been trading UIL Holdings Corporation (NYSE:UIL)?
Heading into Q2, a total of 5 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -44% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes meaningfully.
Due to the fact that UIL Holdings Corporation (NYSE:UIL) has witnessed declining sentiment from hedge fund managers, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few money managers that decided to sell off their full holdings at the end of the first quarter. Interestingly, Thomas M. Fitzgerald’s Longbow Capital Partners dumped the largest stake of the “upper crust” of funds we monitor, comprising close to $1.7 million in stock., and Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $1 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 4 funds at the end of the first quarter.
How are insiders trading UIL Holdings Corporation (NYSE:UIL)?
Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time frame, UIL Holdings Corporation (NYSE:UIL) has experienced 1 unique insiders purchasing, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to UIL Holdings Corporation (NYSE:UIL). These stocks are IDACORP Inc (NYSE:IDA), Atlantic Power Corp (NYSE:AT), Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR), Black Hills Corp (NYSE:BKH), and UNS Energy Corp (NYSE:UNS). This group of stocks belong to the electric utilities industry and their market caps are similar to UIL’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| IDACORP Inc (NYSE:IDA) | 7 | 0 | 8 |
| Atlantic Power Corp (NYSE:AT) | 6 | 3 | 0 |
| Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) | 14 | 0 | 1 |
| Black Hills Corp (NYSE:BKH) | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| UNS Energy Corp (NYSE:UNS) | 8 | 0 | 5 |
With the returns demonstrated by the aforementioned tactics, everyday investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and UIL Holdings Corporation (NYSE:UIL) is no exception.
