Insider Monkey finished processing more than 738 13F filings submitted by hedge funds and prominent investors. These filings show these funds’ portfolio positions as of March 31st, 2019. What do these smart investors think about Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (NASDAQ:GLPI)?
Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (NASDAQ:GLPI) shares haven’t seen a lot of action during the first quarter. Overall, hedge fund sentiment was unchanged. The stock was in 27 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2019. At the end of this article we will also compare GLPI to other stocks including Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG), Black Knight, Inc. (NYSE:BKI), and Jazz Pharmaceuticals Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:JAZZ) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Why do we pay any attention at all to hedge fund sentiment? Our research has shown that hedge funds’ large-cap stock picks indeed failed to beat the market between 1999 and 2016. However, we were able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that’ll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 30.9% through May 30, 2019. That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
Let’s check out the new hedge fund action regarding Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (NASDAQ:GLPI).
How have hedgies been trading Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (NASDAQ:GLPI)?
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 27 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 0% from the fourth quarter of 2018. On the other hand, there were a total of 27 hedge funds with a bullish position in GLPI a year ago. So, let’s review which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
Among these funds, Renaissance Technologies held the most valuable stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (NASDAQ:GLPI), which was worth $370.3 million at the end of the first quarter. On the second spot was Gates Capital Management which amassed $115.5 million worth of shares. Moreover, Citadel Investment Group, Cardinal Capital, and Two Sigma Advisors were also bullish on Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (NASDAQ:GLPI), allocating a large percentage of their portfolios to this stock.
Because Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (NASDAQ:GLPI) has faced falling interest from hedge fund managers, logic holds that there exists a select few fund managers that elected to cut their entire stakes last quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Ken Heebner’s Capital Growth Management cut the biggest stake of the “upper crust” of funds followed by Insider Monkey, comprising about $36.5 million in stock, and Paul Reeder and Edward Shapiro’s PAR Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $32.5 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (NASDAQ:GLPI). We will take a look at Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG), Black Knight, Inc. (NYSE:BKI), Jazz Pharmaceuticals Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:JAZZ), and Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (NYSE:BAH). All of these stocks’ market caps match GLPI’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| GGG | 18 | 180514 | 0 |
| BKI | 40 | 991316 | 4 |
| JAZZ | 27 | 772683 | -4 |
| BAH | 19 | 230572 | -7 |
| Average | 26 | 543771 | -1.75 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 26 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $544 million. That figure was $946 million in GLPI’s case. Black Knight, Inc. (NYSE:BKI) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) is the least popular one with only 18 bullish hedge fund positions. Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (NASDAQ:GLPI) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. Our calculations showed that top 20 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 1.9% in Q2 through May 30th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by more than 3 percentage points. Hedge funds were also right about betting on GLPI as the stock returned 2.9% during the same period and outperformed the market by an even larger margin. Hedge funds were rewarded for their relative bullishness.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
