Is Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd (TRQ) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds? – Cameco Corporation (USA) (CCJ), CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX)

Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd (NYSE:TRQ) was in 16 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. TRQ investors should be aware of a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money recently. There were 17 hedge funds in our database with TRQ positions at the end of the previous quarter.

Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd (NYSE:TRQ)

To the average investor, there are plenty of gauges investors can use to monitor stocks. A pair of the best are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can outclass the broader indices by a superb margin (see just how much).

Equally as key, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are a variety of stimuli for a bullish insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).

Now, we’re going to take a gander at the key action regarding Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd (NYSE:TRQ).

What does the smart money think about Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd (NYSE:TRQ)?

Heading into 2013, a total of 16 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -6% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially.

According to our comprehensive database, Mason Capital Management, managed by Kenneth Mario Garschina, holds the largest position in Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd (NYSE:TRQ). Mason Capital Management has a $137.1 million position in the stock, comprising 2% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Jeffrey Vinik of Vinik Asset Management, with a $53.3 million position; 1.6% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other peers that are bullish include Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital Management, James Dinan’s York Capital Management and George Soros’s Soros Fund Management.

Judging by the fact that Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd (NYSE:TRQ) has experienced declining sentiment from the smart money, we can see that there lies a certain “tier” of fund managers who sold off their entire stakes at the end of the year. Intriguingly, Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital cut the biggest stake of the 450+ funds we key on, valued at close to $10.7 million in stock.. Mark McGoldrick and Jason Maynard’s fund, Mouth Kellett Capital Management, also sold off its stock, about $1.1 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds at the end of the year.

How have insiders been trading Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd (NYSE:TRQ)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time period, Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd (NYSE:TRQ) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd (NYSE:TRQ). These stocks are Central Fund of Canada Limited (USA) (NYSEAMEX:CEF), Cameco Corporation (USA) (NYSE:CCJ), CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE:CNX), Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU), and Yanzhou Coal Mining Co Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:YZC). All of these stocks are in the industrial metals & minerals industry and their market caps resemble TRQ’s market cap.

Company Name # of Hedge Funds # of Insiders Buying # of Insiders Selling
Central Fund of Canada Limited (USA) (NYSEAMEX:CEF) 1 0 0
Cameco Corporation (USA) (NYSE:CCJ) 13 0 0
CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE:CNX) 23 0 1
Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) 32 0 3
Yanzhou Coal Mining Co Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:YZC) 6 0 0

With the returns exhibited by our research, retail investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd (NYSE:TRQ) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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