Is Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

Due to the fact that Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD) has experienced bearish sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s easy to see that there was a specific group of funds that elected to cut their full holdings in the third quarter. At the top of the heap, George Soros’s Soros Fund Management cut the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds tracked by Insider Monkey, comprising about $29.4 million in stock, and Todd J. Kantor’s Encompass Capital Advisors was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $19.8 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD). These stocks are Marriott International Inc (NYSE:MAR), Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT), Xcel Energy Inc (NYSE:XEL), and The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR). This group of stocks’ market caps are similar to PXD’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 30 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $723 million. That figure was $4236 million in PXD’s case. Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Xcel Energy Inc (NYSE:XEL) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD) is more popular among hedge funds, which may indicate that this stock represents a good buying opportunity. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.