Do Hedge Funds Love Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (MCRI)?

Earlier we told you that the aggregate hedge fund interest in the stock was unchanged and we view this as a negative development. Even though there weren’t any hedge funds dumping their holdings during the third quarter, there weren’t any hedge funds initiating brand new positions. This indicates that hedge funds, at the very best, perceive this stock as dead money and they haven’t identified any viable catalysts that can attract investor attention.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRI). We will take a look at Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD), Oxford Immunotec Global PLC (NASDAQ:OXFD), Triumph Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:TBK), and Bassett Furniture Industries Inc. (NASDAQ:BSET). This group of stocks’ market values are similar to MCRI’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 9 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $43 million. That figure was $25 million in MCRI’s case. Bassett Furniture Industries Inc. (NASDAQ:BSET) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRI) is as less popular as GLDD. Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock in relation to other companies analyzed in this article, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and understand why the smart money isn’t behind this stock. This isn’t necessarily bad news. Although it is possible that hedge funds may think the stock is overpriced and view the stock as a short candidate, they may not be very familiar with the bullish thesis. In either case more research is warranted.