Consequently, some big names have jumped into Hospitality Properties Trust (NYSE:HPT) headfirst. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, assembled the most valuable position in Hospitality Properties Trust (NYSE:HPT). Renaissance Technologies had $9.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Benjamin A. Smith’s Laurion Capital Management also made a $6.4 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new HPT investors: David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments and Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management.
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Hospitality Properties Trust (NYSE:HPT) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG), NCR Corporation (NYSE:NCR), Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH), and AmeriGas Partners, L.P. (NYSE:APU). This group of stocks’ market caps are closest to HPT’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| GGG | 16 | 154015 | 7 |
| NCR | 42 | 1017246 | -2 |
| MOH | 30 | 443900 | 2 |
| APU | 8 | 14884 | 1 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 24 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $408 million. That figure was $78 million in HPT’s case. NCR Corporation (NYSE:NCR) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand AmeriGas Partners, L.P. (NYSE:APU) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Hospitality Properties Trust (NYSE:HPT) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard NCR might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
