Billionaire T. Boone Pickens And Insiders Like Apache Corporation (APA) and More

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Oil and gas refining and marketing company Tesoro Corporation (NYSE:TSO) was another of Pickens’s top picks as the billionaire bought almost 100,000 shares between January and March; we tracked a purchase by a Board member in May. Downstream oil and gas companies generally carry low valuations in the current market, and Tesoro Corporation (NYSE:TSO) is no exception with a trailing P/E of 10 even after a 150% rise in the last year. As such we’d be interested in comparing it to its peers. SAC Capital Advisors increased its stake in Tesoro during Q1; that fund is managed by billionaire Steve Cohen (check out more stocks Cohen was buying).

The fund disclosed ownership of 45,000 shares of Concho Resources Inc. (NYSE:CXO), an exploration and production company where we found insider purchasing activity in May at prices of about $80. In the first quarter of 2013 Concho Resources Inc. (NYSE:CXO)’s revenue and net income both fell slightly versus a year earlier. Investors are bullish, as the stock carries trailing and forward P/Es of 21 and 17 respectively, and so we would avoid the stock at least as long as its business remains stable to declining in favor of other E&P companies, despite the insider buying.

Disclosure: I own no shares of any stocks mentioned in this article.

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