Hedge Funds Are Buying Exterran Holdings, Inc. (EXH)

Page 1 of 2

Exterran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EXH) was in 22 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. EXH investors should be aware of an increase in enthusiasm from smart money recently. There were 17 hedge funds in our database with EXH holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

Exterran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EXH)According to most investors, hedge funds are assumed to be worthless, outdated financial vehicles of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8000 funds in operation today, we at Insider Monkey look at the elite of this club, about 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group oversees the lion’s share of the smart money’s total asset base, and by watching their best picks, we have determined a few investment strategies that have historically outstripped the S&P 500 index. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outpaced the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (explore the details and some picks here).

Equally as important, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the financial markets. There are lots of motivations for an insider to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Many academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a gander at the latest action regarding Exterran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EXH).

How have hedgies been trading Exterran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EXH)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 22 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 29% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Carlson Capital, managed by Clint Carlson, holds the largest position in Exterran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EXH). Carlson Capital has a $79.9 million position in the stock, comprising 1.1% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, which held a $25.7 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies that are bullish include SAC Subsidiary’s Sigma Capital Management, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.

As aggregate interest increased, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Caxton Associates LP, managed by Bruce Kovner, assembled the largest position in Exterran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EXH). Caxton Associates LP had 5.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital also initiated a $2.1 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new EXH investors: Eric Sprott’s Sprott Asset Management, Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp, and Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management.

Insider trading activity in Exterran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EXH)

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time period, Exterran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EXH) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Exterran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EXH). These stocks are Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc. (NYSE:HLX), Lufkin Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:LUFK), Energy XXI (Bermuda) Limited (NASDAQ:EXXI), CARBO Ceramics Inc. (NYSE:CRR), and Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc. (NYSE:HOS). This group of stocks belong to the oil & gas equipment & services industry and their market caps are closest to EXH’s market cap.

Page 1 of 2