Should You Avoid Tesco Corporation (USA) (TESO)?

Is Tesco Corporation (USA) (NASDAQ:TESO) a good investment?

To the average investor, there are a multitude of methods shareholders can use to watch their holdings. Some of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best investment managers can outclass their index-focused peers by a superb amount (see just how much).

Just as key, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to analyze the financial markets. Just as you’d expect, there are lots of reasons for an executive to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Many academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if you understand what to do (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, let’s study the newest info surrounding Tesco Corporation (USA) (NASDAQ:TESO).

Tesco Corporation (USA) (NASDAQ:TESO)

How have hedgies been trading Tesco Corporation (USA) (NASDAQ:TESO)?

In preparation for the third quarter, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -8% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully.

According to our 13F database, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the largest position in Tesco Corporation (USA) (NASDAQ:TESO), worth close to $34.9 million, accounting for 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management, with a $9.4 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedgies that hold long positions include Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

As Tesco Corporation (USA) (NASDAQ:TESO) has experienced declining interest from the smart money’s best and brightest, it’s safe to say that there lies a certain “tier” of hedge funds that decided to sell off their positions entirely in Q1. At the top of the heap, Mike Vranos’s Ellington said goodbye to the largest investment of all the hedgies we track, totaling an estimated $0.3 million in stock. Steven Cohen’s fund, SAC Capital Advisors, also dropped its stock, about $0.2 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds in Q1.

What have insiders been doing with Tesco Corporation (USA) (NASDAQ:TESO)?

Bullish insider trading is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time period, Tesco Corporation (USA) (NASDAQ:TESO) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll also take a look at the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Tesco Corporation (USA) (NASDAQ:TESO). These stocks are TETRA Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:TTI), Newpark Resources Inc (NYSE:NR), Synergy Resources Corp (NYSEAMEX:SYRG), Basic Energy Services, Inc (NYSE:BAS), and Willbros Group Inc (NYSE:WG). All of these stocks are in the oil & gas equipment & services industry and their market caps are similar to TESO’s market cap.

Company Name # of Hedge Funds # of Insiders Buying # of Insiders Selling
TETRA Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:TTI) 12 0 0
Newpark Resources Inc (NYSE:NR) 13 0 0
Synergy Resources Corp (NYSEAMEX:SYRG) 14 0 0
Basic Energy Services, Inc (NYSE:BAS) 9 0 0
Willbros Group Inc (NYSE:WG) 12 0 0

Using the returns shown by our studies, average investors must always keep one eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Tesco Corporation (USA) (NASDAQ:TESO) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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