Is Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (EEP) A Good Stock To Buy?

We at Insider Monkey have gone over 742 13F filings that hedge funds and prominent investors are required to file by the government. The 13F filings show the funds’ and investors’ portfolio positions as of September 30. In this article, we look at what those funds think of Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE:EEP) based on that data.

Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE:EEP) has experienced an increase in hedge fund interest lately. EEP was in 10 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with EEP positions at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare EEP to other stocks including Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP), Rockwell Collins, Inc. (NYSE:COL), and Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) to get a better sense of its popularity.

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What does the smart money think about Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE:EEP)?

At the end of the third quarter, a total of 10 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, up by 11% from one quarter earlier. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in EEP over the last 5 quarters. So, let’s see which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.

HedgeFundSentimentChart

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Alec Litowitz and Ross Laser’s Magnetar Capital has the biggest position in Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE:EEP), worth close to $76.4 million, comprising 1.2% of its total 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager is Dmitry Balyasny of Balyasny Asset Management holding a $28.6 million position. Other peers that hold long positions include William Michaelcheck’s Mariner Investment Group, and T Boone Pickens’s BP Capital. We should note that BP Capital is among our list of the 100 best performing hedge funds which is based on the performance of their 13F long positions in non-microcap stocks.

As industrywide interest jumped, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Magnetar Capital created the most outsized position in Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE:EEP). George Hall’s Clinton Group also made a $1.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new EEP positions are Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE:EEP). These stocks are Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP), Rockwell Collins, Inc. (NYSE:COL), Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC), and LKQ Corporation (NASDAQ:LKQ). This group of stocks’ market valuations are similar to EEP’s market valuation.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
AAP 62 2779651 11
COL 15 186032 -2
LNC 24 668282 0
LKQ 32 668630 2

As you can see these stocks had an average of 33 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1.08 billion. That figure was $120 million in EEP’s case. Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Rockwell Collins, Inc. (NYSE:COL) is the least popular one with only 15 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE:EEP) is even less popular than COL. Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock in relation to other companies analyzed in this article, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and understand why the smart money isn’t behind this stock. This isn’t necessarily bad news. Although it is possible that hedge funds may think the stock is overpriced and view the stock as a short candidate, they may not be very familiar with the bullish thesis. In either case more research is warranted.

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