To the average investor, there are tons of indicators market participants can use to monitor their holdings. Some of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best hedge fund managers can beat the broader indices by a solid amount (see just how much).
Equally as important, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the marketplace. There are a variety of reasons for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if investors understand where to look (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, it’s important to take a glance at the key action encompassing China Lodging Group, Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ:HTHT).
What does the smart money think about China Lodging Group, Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ:HTHT)?
In preparation for this year, a total of 5 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 25% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially.
According to our comprehensive database, Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital had the biggest position in China Lodging Group, Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ:HTHT), worth close to $21.9 million, accounting for 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $3.4 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedge funds that are bullish include Phil Frohlich’s Prescott Group Capital Management, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Noam Gottesman’s GLG Partners.
Consequently, key hedge funds have jumped into China Lodging Group, Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ:HTHT) headfirst. Prescott Group Capital Management, managed by Phil Frohlich, assembled the largest position in China Lodging Group, Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ:HTHT). Prescott Group Capital Management had 0.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also made a $0.5 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The only other fund with a new position in the stock is Noam Gottesman’s GLG Partners.
How are insiders trading China Lodging Group, Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ:HTHT)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time period, China Lodging Group, Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ:HTHT) has seen zero 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 China Lodging Group, Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ:HTHT). These stocks are Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH), Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. (REIT) (NYSE:RHP), 7 DAYS GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED(ADR) (NYSE:SVN), Home Inns & Hotels Management Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:HMIN), and Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. (NYSE:OEH). This group of stocks are in the lodging industry and their market caps resemble HTHT’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH) | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. (REIT) (NYSE:RHP) | 23 | 0 | 6 |
| 7 DAYS GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED(ADR) (NYSE:SVN) | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Home Inns & Hotels Management Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:HMIN) | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. (NYSE:OEH) | 9 | 0 | 0 |
With the results exhibited by our time-tested strategies, retail investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and China Lodging Group, Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ:HTHT) applies perfectly to this mantra.
