Hedge Funds Are Crazy About CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) investors should pay attention to an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds lately.

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

To the average investor, there are many methods investors can use to monitor Mr. Market. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best money managers can outclass the market by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Just as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are plenty of motivations for an upper level exec to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, we’re going to take a glance at the recent action regarding CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP).

How are hedge funds trading CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)?

At year’s end, a total of 19 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 6% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.

According to our comprehensive database, OZ Management, managed by Daniel S. Och, holds the largest position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP). OZ Management has a $208 million position in the stock, comprising 0.8% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson of Adage Capital Management, with a $47 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other peers with similar optimism include Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, David Harding’s Winton Capital Management and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.

As industrywide interest jumped, key money managers have jumped into CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) headfirst. Moore Global Investments, managed by Louis Bacon, assembled the most valuable position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP). Moore Global Investments had 8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management also initiated a $2 million position during the quarter. The only other fund with a brand new CNP position is Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp.

How are insiders trading CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)?

Insider buying is best served when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time period, CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the returns exhibited by Insider Monkey’s studies, everyday investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) is an important part of this process.

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