InterOil Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IOC) investors should be aware of an increase in hedge fund interest recently.
In today’s marketplace, there are many methods shareholders can use to monitor stocks. Two of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite hedge fund managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a significant margin (see just how much).
Just as integral, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are a variety of motivations for a corporate insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if investors know where to look (learn more here).
Now, let’s take a gander at the recent action encompassing InterOil Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IOC).
How are hedge funds trading InterOil Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IOC)?
At Q1’s end, a total of 18 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 6% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably.
Of the funds we track, Paulson & Co, managed by John Paulson, holds the most valuable position in InterOil Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IOC). Paulson & Co has a $142.3 million position in the stock, comprising 0.8% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Christian Leone of Luxor Capital Group, with a $29.9 million position; the fund has 0.6% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies with similar optimism include Charles Clough’s Clough Capital Partners, and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
As one would reasonably expect, key money managers have jumped into InterOil Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IOC) headfirst. Paulson & Co, managed by John Paulson, established the most outsized position in InterOil Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IOC). Paulson & Co had 142.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Christian Leone’s Luxor Capital Group also initiated a $29.9 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new IOC positions are Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, John Fichthorn’s Dialectic Capital Management, and Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management.
How are insiders trading InterOil Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IOC)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time period, InterOil Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IOC) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to InterOil Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IOC). These stocks are World Fuel Services Corporation (NYSE:INT), CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CVI), Western Refining, Inc. (NYSE:WNR), and PBF Energy Inc (NYSE:PBF). This group of stocks belong to the oil & gas refining & marketing industry and their market caps are similar to IOC’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| World Fuel Services Corporation (NYSE:INT) | 9 | 0 | 5 |
| CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CVI) | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| Western Refining, Inc. (NYSE:WNR) | 25 | 0 | 9 |
| PBF Energy Inc (NYSE:PBF) | 22 | 1 | 0 |
With the returns exhibited by our research, retail investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and InterOil Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IOC) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
