Hedge Funds Like These Trending Stocks But Upside May Be Limited

International Speedway Corp (NASDAQ:ISCA) reported a loss of $0.01 on revenues of $125.49 million, beating earnings expectations of a loss of $0.06 per share on revenues of $129.91 million. Guidance was stronger-than-expected, with management raising its 2015 full year non-GAAP guidance to $635-to-$640 million in revenues, an EBITDA margin of 30%-to-30.5%, and diluted earnings per share of $1.35-to-$1.40. ISC Chief Executive Officer Lesa France Kennedy had this to say about the results in a press release:

“Financial results again exceeded our expectations in the third quarter. Solid NASCAR events in August at Michigan International Speedway and Watkins Glen, growth in earnings from our investment in the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway and revenue from the Faster Horses and Phish Magnaball music festivals more than offset the construction related reduction in seating capacity for the Coke Zero 400 and the impact of inclement weather at a number of our events early in the period. The stabilization and growth we are seeing in our core business demonstrates the success we can achieve by sticking with our capacity management and guest experience initiatives. We can also grow our business through non-motorsports strategies such as our Hollywood Casino investment and hosting other major spectator events at our facilities. These positive trends complement our industry’s long-term broadcast agreements that, along with a solid balance sheet, position us over the long-term to build shareholder value.”

The earnings report was pretty good, but given International Speedway Corp (NASDAQ:ISCA)’s forward P/E of 21.65 and five-year EPS CAGR of 5%, it’s hard to get excited about the stock.

15 funds owned $257.45 million of the company’s shares (representing 15.10% of the float) on June 30, slightly down from 16 funds holding $271.62 million in shares on March 31. John W. Rogers’ Ariel Investments decreased its position by 15% to 5.77 million shares while Robert Hockett’s Covalent Capital Partners lowered its stake by 42% to 297,138 shares. Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors kept its stake unchanged at 125,000 shares.

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