DTE Energy Co (NYSE:DTE) investors should pay attention to a decrease in hedge fund sentiment of late.
At the moment, there are a multitude of metrics investors can use to monitor their holdings. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite fund managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a healthy amount (see just how much).
Equally as important, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are many motivations for an executive to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if shareholders understand what to do (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, we’re going to take a glance at the latest action regarding DTE Energy Co (NYSE:DTE).
What have hedge funds been doing with DTE Energy Co (NYSE:DTE)?
In preparation for this year, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -17% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully.
When looking at the hedgies we track, AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, holds the largest position in DTE Energy Co (NYSE:DTE). AQR Capital Management has a $54 million position in the stock, comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson of Adage Capital Management, with a $50 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies with similar optimism include David Harding’s Winton Capital Management, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
Judging by the fact that DTE Energy Co (NYSE:DTE) has experienced bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there lies a certain “tier” of funds who were dropping their entire stakes last quarter. Interestingly, John Fichthorn’s Dialectic Capital Management dumped the biggest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we key on, worth close to $5 million in stock.. Louis Bacon’s fund, Moore Global Investments, also sold off its stock, about $1 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 2 funds last quarter.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about DTE Energy Co (NYSE:DTE)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time period, DTE Energy Co (NYSE:DTE) has seen 1 unique insiders buying, and 11 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to DTE Energy Co (NYSE:DTE). These stocks are Empresa Nacional de Electricidad (ADR) (NYSE:EOC), Xcel Energy Inc (NYSE:XEL), Wisconsin Energy Corporation (NYSE:WEC), Companhia Energetica Minas Gerais (ADR) (NYSE:CIG), and Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR). All of these stocks are in the electric utilities industry and their market caps resemble DTE’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Empresa Nacional de Electricidad (ADR) (NYSE:EOC) | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Xcel Energy Inc (NYSE:XEL) | 12 | 3 | 0 |
| Wisconsin Energy Corporation (NYSE:WEC) | 10 | 1 | 6 |
| Companhia Energetica Minas Gerais (ADR) (NYSE:CIG) | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) | 13 | 0 | 1 |
With the results shown by our research, everyday investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and DTE Energy Co (NYSE:DTE) applies perfectly to this mantra.
