Golden Entertainment Inc (GDEN): Hedge Fund Sentiment Unchanged

Asma UL Husna

Updated Tue, Dec 18, 2018, 8:53 PM

After several tireless days we have finished crunching the numbers from the more than 700 13F filings issued by the elite hedge funds and other investment firms that we track at Insider Monkey, which disclosed those firms' equity portfolios as of September 30. The results of that effort will be put on display in this article, as we share valuable insight into the smart money sentiment towards Golden Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:GDEN).

Golden Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:GDEN) shares haven't seen a lot of action during the third quarter. Overall, hedge fund sentiment was unchanged. The stock was in 17 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2018. At the end of this article we will also compare GDEN to other stocks including Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP), ShotSpotter, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSTI), and Sapiens International Corporation N.V. (NASDAQ:SPNS) to get a better sense of its popularity.

In the eyes of most stock holders, hedge funds are perceived as worthless, outdated investment tools of the past. While there are greater than 8,000 funds with their doors open at the moment, Our researchers hone in on the leaders of this club, about 700 funds. It is estimated that this group of investors oversee the majority of the smart money's total asset base, and by watching their highest performing picks, Insider Monkey has brought to light various investment strategies that have historically surpassed the S&P 500 index. Insider Monkey's flagship hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 6 percentage points a year since its inception in May 2014 through early November 2018. We were able to generate large returns even by identifying short candidates. Our portfolio of short stocks lost 24% since February 2017 (through December 3rd) even though the market was up nearly 23% during the same period. We just shared a list of 11 short targets in our latest quarterly update.

We're going to take a look at the recent hedge fund action regarding Golden Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:GDEN).

Hedge fund activity in Golden Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:GDEN)

At Q3's end, a total of 17 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, no change from one quarter earlier. By comparison, 7 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in GDEN heading into this year. So, let's see which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.

Among these funds, Nantahala Capital Management held the most valuable stake in Golden Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:GDEN), which was worth $57.8 million at the end of the third quarter. On the second spot was Bridger Management which amassed $21.6 million worth of shares. Moreover, Millennium Management, Indaba Capital Management, and Citadel Investment Group were also bullish on Golden Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:GDEN), allocating a large percentage of their portfolios to this stock.

Judging by the fact that Golden Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:GDEN) has experienced falling interest from hedge fund managers, logic holds that there was a specific group of hedgies that elected to cut their full holdings heading into Q3. At the top of the heap, Peter S. Park's Park West Asset Management sold off the biggest position of all the hedgies watched by Insider Monkey, worth close to $23.9 million in stock, and Matthew Hulsizer's PEAK6 Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $2.7 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

Let's check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Golden Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:GDEN). We will take a look at Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP), ShotSpotter, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSTI), Sapiens International Corporation N.V. (NASDAQ:SPNS), and Bridge Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BDGE). This group of stocks' market values are closest to GDEN's market value.

[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position KOP,13,45105,-4 SSTI,5,36617,0 SPNS,3,7152,1 BDGE,11,117797,1 Average,8,51668,-0.5 [/table]

View table here if you experience formatting issues.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 8 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $52 million. That figure was $164 million in GDEN's case. Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Sapiens International Corporation N.V. (NASDAQ:SPNS) is the least popular one with only 3 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Golden Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:GDEN) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.

Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.

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