What Do Hedge Funds Think of LaSalle Hotel Properties (LHO)?

At Insider Monkey we follow around 730 of the best-performing investors and even though many of them lost money in the last several months, the history teaches us that over the long-run they still manage to beat the market, which is why it can be profitable for us to imitate their activity. Of course, even the best money managers can sometimes get it wrong, but following some of their picks gives us a better chance to outperform the crowd than picking a random stock and this is where our research comes in.

Is LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE:LHO) a healthy stock for your portfolio? Prominent investors are in an optimistic mood. The number of bullish hedge fund bets went up by 2 recently. At the end of this article we will also compare LHO to other stocks including Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:TDY), Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN), and VeriFone Systems Inc (NYSE:PAY) to get a better sense of its popularity.

Now, we’re going to take a peek at the new action regarding LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE:LHO).

What does the smart money think about LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE:LHO)?

At the end of the third quarter, a total of 12 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 20% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly (or already accumulated large positions).

When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Echo Street Capital Management, managed by Greg Poole, holds the most valuable position in LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE:LHO). Echo Street Capital Management has an $19.3 million position in the stock, comprising 0.7% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Balyasny Asset Management, managed by Dmitry Balyasny, which holds an $13 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining professional money managers with similar optimism comprise Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management, George Hall’s Clinton Group and John Khoury’s Long Pond Capital.

Now, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves. Clinton Group, managed by George Hall, initiated the biggest position in LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE:LHO). Clinton Group had $2.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Khoury’s Long Pond Capital also initiated an $1.2 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Peter Muller’s PDT Partners, Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management, and Mike Vranos’s Ellington.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE:LHO). These stocks are Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:TDY), Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN), VeriFone Systems Inc (NYSE:PAY), and New Oriental Education & Tech Grp (ADR) (NYSE:EDU). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to LHO’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 21 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $230 million. That figure was $41 million in LHO’s case. Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:TDY) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE:LHO) 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 AZPN might be a better candidate to consider a long position.