Is Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (GLPI) a Good Stock To Buy?

A whopping number of 13F filings filed with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been processed by Insider Monkey so that individual investors can look at the overall hedge fund sentiment towards the stocks included in their watchlists. These freshly-submitted public filings disclose money managers’ equity positions as of the end of the three-month period that ended September 30, so let’s proceed with the discussion of the hedge fund sentiment towards Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (NASDAQ:GLPI).

Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (NASDAQ:GLPI) registered a decrease in popularity among the world’s largest hedge funds recently. At the end of September, the stock was included in the equity portfolios of 34 investors tracked by Insider Monkey, compared to 40 funds a quarter earlier. However, the level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as TAL Education Group (ADR) (NYSE:XRS), Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE:RHI), and Edgewell Personal Care Company (NYSE:EPC) to gather more data points.

At Insider Monkey, we’ve developed an investment strategy that has delivered market-beating returns over the past 12 months. Our strategy identifies the 100 best-performing funds of the previous quarter from among the collection of 700+ successful funds that we track in our database, which we accomplish using our returns methodology. We then study the portfolios of those 100 funds using the latest 13F data to uncover the 30 most popular mid-cap stocks (market caps of between $1 billion and $10 billion) among them to hold until the next filing period. This strategy delivered 18% gains over the past 12 months, more than doubling the 8% returns enjoyed by the S&P 500 ETFs.

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Now, let’s go over the recent action regarding Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (NASDAQ:GLPI).

How have hedgies been trading Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (NASDAQ:GLPI)?

At the end of the third quarter, 34 funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on Gaming and Leisure Properties, down by 15% from the end of the second quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly (or already accumulated large positions).

When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Richard Driehaus’ Driehaus Capital has the largest position in Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (NASDAQ:GLPI), worth close to $129.3 million, accounting for 4.4% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is PAR Capital Management, led by Paul Reeder and Edward Shapiro, which holds a $126.1 million position; the fund has 1.8% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining professional money managers that hold long positions consist of Jeffrey Gates’ Gates Capital Management, Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies, and Martin D. Sass’s MD Sass.

Judging by the fact that Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (NASDAQ:GLPI) has witnessed falling interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, we can see that there exists a select few fund managers that slashed their full holdings during the third quarter. Intriguingly, George Soros’ Soros Fund Management cut the largest stake of the “upper crust” of funds followed by Insider Monkey, totaling an estimated $62.1 million in stock, and Daniel Lascano’s Lomas Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $6.3 million worth of shares.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (NASDAQ:GLPI). These stocks are TAL Education Group (ADR) (NYSE:XRS), Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE:RHI), Edgewell Personal Care Company (NYSE:EPC), and Godaddy Inc (NYSE:GDDY). All of these stocks’ market caps resemble GLPI’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 23 funds with bullish positions at the end of September and the average amount invested in these stocks was $597 million, compared to $880 million in GLPI’s case. Edgewell Personal Care Company (NYSE:EPC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE:RHI) is the least popular one with only 21 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (NASDAQ:GLPI) 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.