Do Hedge Funds and Insiders Love Carmike Cinemas, Inc. (CKEC)?

Carmike Cinemas, Inc. (NASDAQ:CKEC) was in 20 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. CKEC investors should pay attention to an increase in enthusiasm from smart money lately. There were 16 hedge funds in our database with CKEC positions at the end of the previous quarter.

In today’s marketplace, there are a multitude of indicators investors can use to watch publicly traded companies. Two of the best are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite money managers can outclass the market by a healthy margin (see just how much).

Just as integral, positive insider trading activity is another way to break down the marketplace. Just as you’d expect, there are a variety of motivations for an upper level exec to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would buy. Several academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if piggybackers understand what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, it’s important to take a gander at the latest action encompassing Carmike Cinemas, Inc. (NASDAQ:CKEC).

Hedge fund activity in Carmike Cinemas, Inc. (NASDAQ:CKEC)

At Q1’s end, a total of 20 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 25% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably.

According to our comprehensive database, Manatuck Hill Partners, managed by Mark Broach, holds the largest position in Carmike Cinemas, Inc. (NASDAQ:CKEC). Manatuck Hill Partners has a $29.3 million position in the stock, comprising 3.7% of its 13F portfolio. On Manatuck Hill Partners’s heels is Zac Hirzel of Hirzel Capital Management, with a $11.2 million position; the fund has 3.9% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that hold long positions include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Abby Flamholz and Yehuda Blinder’s ADAR Investment Management and Brett Hendrickson’s Nokomis Capital.

Consequently, some big names have jumped into Carmike Cinemas, Inc. (NASDAQ:CKEC) headfirst. Hutchin Hill Capital, managed by Neil Chriss, assembled the most valuable position in Carmike Cinemas, Inc. (NASDAQ:CKEC). Hutchin Hill Capital had 0.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp also made a $0.4 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Mike Vranos’s Ellington, Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management, and Ben Levine, Andrew Manuel and Stefan Renold’s LMR Partners.

How are insiders trading Carmike Cinemas, Inc. (NASDAQ:CKEC)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time period, Carmike Cinemas, Inc. (NASDAQ:CKEC) has experienced 2 unique insiders purchasing, 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 Carmike Cinemas, Inc. (NASDAQ:CKEC). These stocks are Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE:RGC), Dreamworks Animation Skg Inc (NASDAQ:DWA), Reading International, Inc. (NASDAQ:RDI), RealD (NYSE:RLD), and Rentrak Corporation (NASDAQ:RENT). This group of stocks are the members of the movie production, theaters industry and their market caps resemble CKEC’s market cap.