We at Insider Monkey have gone over 821 13F filings that hedge funds and prominent investors are required to file by the SEC The 13F filings show the funds’ and investors’ portfolio positions as of March 31st, near the height of the coronavirus market crash. In this article, we look at what those funds think of Greenlane Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNLN) based on that data.
Greenlane Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNLN) investors should be aware of an increase in enthusiasm from smart money of late. Our calculations also showed that GNLN isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds (click for Q1 rankings and see the video for a quick look at the top 5 stocks).
Video: Watch our video about the top 5 most popular hedge fund stocks.
In the financial world there are a large number of tools investors have at their disposal to grade stocks. A pair of the most under-the-radar tools are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can outperform the broader indices by a solid amount. Insider Monkey’s monthly stock picks returned 101% since March 2017 and outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by more than 58 percentage points. Our short strategy outperformed the S&P 500 short ETFs by 20 percentage points annually (see the details here). That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is a useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
Philip Hempleman of Ardsley Partners
At Insider Monkey we leave no stone unturned when looking for the next great investment idea. For example, 2020’s unprecedented market conditions provide us with the highest number of trading opportunities in a decade. So we are checking out stocks recommended/scorned by legendary Bill Miller. We interview hedge fund managers and ask them about their best ideas. If you want to find out the best healthcare stock to buy right now, you can watch our latest hedge fund manager interview here. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. Our best call in 2020 was shorting the market when the S&P 500 was trading at 3150 after realizing the coronavirus pandemic’s significance before most investors. Now we’re going to review the new hedge fund action encompassing Greenlane Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNLN).
What have hedge funds been doing with Greenlane Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNLN)?
At Q1’s end, a total of 6 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 50% from one quarter earlier. On the other hand, there were a total of 0 hedge funds with a bullish position in GNLN a year ago. So, let’s check out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
More specifically, Pura Vida Investments was the largest shareholder of Greenlane Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNLN), with a stake worth $0.9 million reported as of the end of September. Trailing Pura Vida Investments was Moore Global Investments, which amassed a stake valued at $0.9 million. Healthcare Value Capital, Ardsley Partners, and Citadel Investment Group were also very fond of the stock, becoming one of the largest hedge fund holders of the company. In terms of the portfolio weights assigned to each position Healthcare Value Capital allocated the biggest weight to Greenlane Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNLN), around 0.65% of its 13F portfolio. Pura Vida Investments is also relatively very bullish on the stock, setting aside 0.24 percent of its 13F equity portfolio to GNLN.
Consequently, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, established the largest position in Greenlane Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNLN). Citadel Investment Group had $0 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Murray Stahl’s Horizon Asset Management also initiated a $0 million position during the quarter.
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Greenlane Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNLN) but similarly valued. These stocks are Orgenesis Inc. (NASDAQ:ORGS), Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (NYSE:PEI), HC2 Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCHC), and Airgain, Inc. (NASDAQ:AIRG). This group of stocks’ market valuations are closest to GNLN’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| ORGS | 2 | 4358 | 1 |
| PEI | 6 | 1164 | 2 |
| HCHC | 15 | 3815 | 3 |
| AIRG | 4 | 3367 | 0 |
| Average | 6.75 | 3176 | 1.5 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 6.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $3 million. That figure was $2 million in GNLN’s case. HC2 Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCHC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Orgenesis Inc. (NASDAQ:ORGS) is the least popular one with only 2 bullish hedge fund positions. Greenlane Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNLN) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. Our calculations showed that top 10 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 41.4% in 2019 and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 10.1 percentage points. These stocks gained 13.9% in 2020 through June 10th and still beat the market by 14.2 percentage points. A small number of hedge funds were also right about betting on GNLN as the stock returned 129.1% during the second quarter and outperformed the market by an even larger margin.
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Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
