Salem Media Group Inc (SALM): Hedge Fund Sentiment Unchanged

The 700+ hedge funds and money managers tracked by Insider Monkey have already compiled and submitted their 13F filings for the third quarter, which unveil their equity positions as of September 30. We went through these filings, fixed typos and other more significant errors and identified the changes in hedge fund positions. Our extensive review of these public filings is finally over, so this article is set to reveal the smart money sentiment towards Salem Media Group Inc (NASDAQ:SALM).

Hedge fund interest in Salem Media Group Inc (NASDAQ:SALM) shares was flat at the end of last quarter. This is usually a negative indicator. At the end of this article, we will also compare Salem Media Group Inc (NASDAQ:SALM) to other stocks, including Xcel Brands Inc (NASDAQ:XELB), Emergent Capital Inc (NYSE:EMG), and Gulf Island Fabrication, Inc. (NASDAQ:GIFI) to get a better sense of its popularity.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are a multitude of metrics stock traders use to grade publicly traded companies. A couple of the best metrics are hedge fund and insider trading activity. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top investment managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a significant amount (see the details here).

Keeping this in mind, let’s take a look at the key action surrounding Salem Media Group Inc (NASDAQ:SALM).

What have hedge funds been doing with Salem Media Group Inc (NASDAQ:SALM)?

At the end of September, a total of 6 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, unchanged from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably (or already accumulated large positions).

According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund and institutional investor database, Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors has the number one position in Salem Media Group Inc (NASDAQ:SALM), worth close to $6.7 million, comprising less than 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by DG Capital Management, managed by Dov Gertzulin, which holds a $1.7 million position; the fund has 1.9% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers with similar optimism contain Renaissance Technologies, Paul J. Isaac’s Arbiter Partners Capital Management, and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

We view hedge fund activity in the stock unfavorable, but in this case there was only a single hedge fund selling its entire position: LMR Partners. One hedge fund selling its entire position doesn’t always imply a bearish intent. Theoretically, a hedge fund may decide to sell a promising position in order to invest the proceeds in a more promising idea. However, we don’t think this is the case here because only one of the 700+ hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey identified as a viable investment and initiated a position in the stock (that fund was Algert Coldiron Investors).

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Salem Media Group Inc (NASDAQ:SALM). We will take a look at Xcel Brands Inc (NASDAQ:XELB), Emergent Capital Inc (NYSE:EMG), Gulf Island Fabrication, Inc. (NASDAQ:GIFI), and Fate Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:FATE). This group of stocks’ market values resembles Salem Media Group Inc (NASDAQ:SALM)’s market value.

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 $35 million. That figure was $10 million in Salem Media Group Inc (NASDAQ:SALM)’s case. Gulf Island Fabrication, Inc. (NASDAQ:GIFI) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Xcel Brands Inc (NASDAQ:XELB) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Salem Media Group Inc (NASDAQ:SALM) 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, Gulf Island Fabrication, Inc. (NASDAQ:GIFI) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.