Is MIDSTATES PETROLEUM COMPANY, INC. (MPO) A Good Stock To Buy?

As we already know from media reports and hedge fund investor letters, many hedge funds lost money in October, blaming macroeconomic conditions and unpredictable events that hit several sectors, with healthcare among them. Nevertheless, most investors decided to stick to their bullish theses and their long-term focus allows us to profit from the recent declines. In particular, let’s take a look at what hedge funds think about MIDSTATES PETROLEUM COMPANY, INC. (NYSE:MPO) in this article.

MIDSTATES PETROLEUM COMPANY, INC. (NYSE:MPO) was in 17 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2018. MPO investors should pay attention to an increase in enthusiasm from smart money lately. There were 15 hedge funds in our database with MPO positions at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that mpo isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.

At the moment there are plenty of indicators investors put to use to assess their stock investments. A pair of the most under-the-radar indicators are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite investment managers can trounce the market by a superb amount (see the details here).

Jeffrey Tannenbaum

We’re going to take a look at the fresh hedge fund action surrounding MIDSTATES PETROLEUM COMPANY, INC. (NYSE:MPO).

What have hedge funds been doing with MIDSTATES PETROLEUM COMPANY, INC. (NYSE:MPO)?

Heading into the fourth quarter of 2018, a total of 17 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 13% from the previous quarter. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards MPO over the last 13 quarters. So, let’s review which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.

No of Hedge Funds with MPO Positions

More specifically, Fir Tree was the largest shareholder of MIDSTATES PETROLEUM COMPANY, INC. (NYSE:MPO), with a stake worth $57 million reported as of the end of September. Trailing Fir Tree was Avenue Capital, which amassed a stake valued at $31.1 million. Centerbridge Partners, AQR Capital Management, and Sound Point Capital were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.

Now, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Marshall Wace LLP, managed by Paul Marshall and Ian Wace, created the largest position in MIDSTATES PETROLEUM COMPANY, INC. (NYSE:MPO). Marshall Wace LLP had $0.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Gavin Saitowitz and Cisco J. del Valle’s Springbok Capital also made a $0 million investment in the stock during the quarter.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to MIDSTATES PETROLEUM COMPANY, INC. (NYSE:MPO). These stocks are eGain Corporation (NASDAQ:EGAN), The Gabelli Multimedia Trust Inc. (NYSE:GGT), Telenav Inc (NASDAQ:TNAV), and First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FGBI). This group of stocks’ market valuations match MPO’s market valuation.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
EGAN 10 22508 -1
GGT 1 6817 0
TNAV 8 46075 -1
FGBI 1 617 0
Average 5 19004 -0.5

View table here if you experience formatting issues.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $19 million. That figure was $136 million in MPO’s case. eGain Corporation (NASDAQ:EGAN) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand The Gabelli Multimedia Trust Inc. (NYSE:GGT) is the least popular one with only 1 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks MIDSTATES PETROLEUM COMPANY, INC. (NYSE:MPO) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.

Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.