Here is What Hedge Funds Think About BPZ Resources Inc (BPZ)

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Is BPZ Resources Inc (NYSE:BPZ) the right investment to pursue these days? The smart money is getting less optimistic. The number of long hedge fund bets shrunk by 1 recently.

In the financial world, there are many indicators investors can use to analyze Mr. Market. A couple of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best hedge fund managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a very impressive margin (see just how much).

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Equally as key, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the financial markets. Just as you’d expect, there are many reasons for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a glance at the recent action encompassing BPZ Resources Inc (NYSE:BPZ).

How are hedge funds trading BPZ Resources Inc (NYSE:BPZ)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 6 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -14% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully.

Of the funds we track, Malcolm Fairbairn’s Ascend Capital had the most valuable position in BPZ Resources Inc (NYSE:BPZ), worth close to $11.1 million, accounting for 0.4% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Seneca Capital, managed by Douglas Hirsch, which held a $2.5 million position; the fund has 1.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds with similar optimism include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and William Harnisch’s Peconic Partners LLC.

Seeing as BPZ Resources Inc (NYSE:BPZ) has witnessed bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s safe to say that there is a sect of hedgies that slashed their entire stakes in Q1. It’s worth mentioning that Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management said goodbye to the biggest position of all the hedgies we watch, comprising close to $0.2 million in stock., and Gregory Fraser Rudolph Kluiber and Timothy Krochuk of GRT Capital Partners was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $0.1 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds in Q1.

How are insiders trading BPZ Resources Inc (NYSE:BPZ)?

Bullish insider trading is best served when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time frame, BPZ Resources Inc (NYSE:BPZ) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to BPZ Resources Inc (NYSE:BPZ). These stocks are ZaZa Energy Corp (NASDAQ:ZAZA), Hugoton Royalty Trust (NYSE:HGT), TransAtlantic Petroleum Ltd (NYSEAMEX:TAT), Eca Marcellus Trust I (NYSE:ECT), and MV Oil Trust (NYSE:MVO). This group of stocks belong to the oil & gas drilling & exploration industry and their market caps are closest to BPZ’s market cap.

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