Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Inergy, L.P. (NRGY)

Inergy, L.P. (NYSE:NRGY) was in 8 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. NRGY investors should be aware of a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds lately. There were 8 hedge funds in our database with NRGY holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

Inergy, L.P.

To most traders, hedge funds are seen as worthless, old financial tools of yesteryear. While there are over 8000 funds trading at the moment, we look at the upper echelon of this club, around 450 funds. It is estimated that this group has its hands on the majority of the hedge fund industry’s total asset base, and by paying attention to their top investments, we have identified a number of investment strategies that have historically beaten Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outperformed the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (see the details here).

Just as key, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to break down the financial markets. Just as you’d expect, there are many reasons for a corporate insider to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).

Now, it’s important to take a look at the key action encompassing Inergy, L.P. (NYSE:NRGY).

What does the smart money think about Inergy, L.P. (NYSE:NRGY)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 0% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably.

According to our comprehensive database, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the largest position in Inergy, L.P. (NYSE:NRGY). Renaissance Technologies has a $12.3 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is First Eagle Investment Management, managed by Jean-Marie Eveillard, which held a $8 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that hold long positions include Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Stephen Loukas, David A. Lorber, Zachary George’s FrontFour Capital Group and Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management.

Seeing as Inergy, L.P. (NYSE:NRGY) has witnessed falling interest from the smart money, logic holds that there lies a certain “tier” of money managers that slashed their full holdings in Q1. It’s worth mentioning that Alec Litowitz and Ross Laser’s Magnetar Capital dropped the largest stake of all the hedgies we key on, totaling an estimated $14.1 million in stock.. Curtis Schenker and Craig Effron’s fund, Scoggin, also sold off its stock, about $4.5 million worth. These moves are important to note, as total hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

How are insiders trading Inergy, L.P. (NYSE:NRGY)?

Insider buying is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time frame, Inergy, L.P. (NYSE:NRGY) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Inergy, L.P. (NYSE:NRGY). These stocks are Atlas Energy LP (NYSE:ATLS), WGL Holdings Inc (NYSE:WGL), Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc. (NYSE:PNY), Targa Resources Corp (NYSE:TRGP), and Suburban Propane Partners LP (NYSE:SPH). This group of stocks belong to the gas utilities industry and their market caps are closest to NRGY’s market cap.

Company Name # of Hedge Funds # of Insiders Buying # of Insiders Selling
Atlas Energy LP (NYSE:ATLS) 15 0 1
WGL Holdings Inc (NYSE:WGL) 5 1 3
Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc. (NYSE:PNY) 9 1 1
Targa Resources Corp (NYSE:TRGP) 13 0 1
Suburban Propane Partners LP (NYSE:SPH) 5 1 4

With the results demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s strategies, everyday investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Inergy, L.P. (NYSE:NRGY) is no exception.

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