Hedge Funds and other institutional investors have just completed filing their 13Fs with the Securities and Exchange Commission, revealing their equity portfolios as of the end of September. At Insider Monkey, we follow over 700 of the best-performing investors and by analyzing their 13F filings, we can determine the stocks that they are collectively bullish on. One of their picks is Ashford Hospitality Prime Inc (NYSE:AHP), so let’s take a closer look at the sentiment that surrounds it in the current quarter.
Ashford Hospitality Prime Inc (NYSE:AHP) was in 14 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. AHP shareholders have witnessed an increase in hedge fund sentiment recently. There were 13 hedge funds in our database with AHP positions at the end of the previous quarter. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Memorial Production Partners LP (NASDAQ:MEMP), Pericom Semiconductor (NASDAQ:PSEM), and Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGNX) to gather more data points.
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Today there are numerous metrics shareholders can use to appraise stocks. Two of the best metrics are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top money managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a significant amount (see the details here).
Keeping this in mind, we’re going to take a look at the recent action encompassing Ashford Hospitality Prime Inc (NYSE:AHP).
What have hedge funds been doing with Ashford Hospitality Prime Inc (NYSE:AHP)?
Heading into Q4, a total of 14 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 8% from the second quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Sessa Capital, managed by John Petry, holds the most valuable position in Ashford Hospitality Prime Inc (NYSE:AHP). Sessa Capital has a $28.9 million position in the stock, comprising 11.3% of its 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager is Steve Pei of Gratia Capital, with a $10.3 million position; the fund has 1.8% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other professional money managers that are bullish include Peter Schliemann’s Rutabaga Capital Management and Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies.
With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, some big names were leading the bulls’ herd. Gratia Capital, created the most outsized position in Ashford Hospitality Prime Inc (NYSE:AHP). Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management also initiated a $5.6 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new AHP investors: Michael Thompson’s BHR Capital, Gavin Saitowitz and Cisco J. del Valle’s Springbok Capital, and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.
Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Ashford Hospitality Prime Inc (NYSE:AHP). We will take a look at Memorial Production Partners LP (NASDAQ:MEMP), Pericom Semiconductor (NASDAQ:PSEM), Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGNX), and Healthways, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWAY). This group of stocks’ market caps are similar to AHP’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| MEMP | 4 | 9732 | -2 |
| PSEM | 13 | 58944 | 1 |
| PGNX | 15 | 123257 | -1 |
| HWAY | 23 | 158199 | -3 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 14 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $88 million. That figure was $73 million in AHP’s case. Healthways, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWAY) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Memorial Production Partners LP (NASDAQ:MEMP) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Ashford Hospitality Prime Inc (NYSE:AHP) is not the most popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal, but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard HWAY might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
