How do we determine whether Green Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:GNBC) makes for a good investment at the moment? We analyze the sentiment of a select group of the very best investors in the world, who spend immense amounts of time and resources studying companies. They may not always be right (no one is), but data shows that their consensus long positions have historically outperformed the market when we adjust for known risk factors.
Is Green Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:GNBC) a bargain? Hedge funds are taking a bullish view. The number of long hedge fund positions inched up by 2 lately. GNBC was in 7 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of September. There were 5 hedge funds in our database with GNBC positions at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare GNBC to other stocks, including Ring Energy Inc (NYSEMKT:REI), OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC), and Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co. (NYSEAMEX:CTO) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Green Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:GNBC)
Follow Green Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:GNBC)
In today’s marketplace there are plenty of signals market participants employ to analyze stocks. Two of the most useful signals are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. Experts at Insider Monkey, a website specializing in hedge funds, have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can beat their index-focused peers by a superb amount (see the details here).
With all of this in mind, let’s view the new action encompassing Green Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:GNBC).
Hedge fund activity in Green Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:GNBC)
As of September 30, a total of 7 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 40% from the previous quarter. This suggests that there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially.
According to hedge fund intelligence website Insider Monkey, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies had the largest position in Green Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:GNBC), worth close to $1.2 million, comprising less than 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Hutchin Hill Capital, led by Neil Chriss, holding a $1.1 million position; the fund has less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers with similar optimism contain Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, J. Alan Reid, Jr.’s Forward Management and Joseph A. Jolson’s Harvest Capital Strategies.
As one would reasonably expect, key money managers have been driving this bullishness. Harvest Capital Strategies, managed by Joseph A. Jolson, assembled the most valuable position in Green Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:GNBC). Harvest Capital Strategies had $0.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group also made a $0.3 million investment in the stock during the quarter.
Let’s also review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Green Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:GNBC). We will take a look at Ring Energy Inc (NYSEMKT:REI), OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC), Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co. (NYSEAMEX:CTO), and BioSpecifics Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:BSTC). This group of stocks’ market values are similar to GNBC’s market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| REI | 5 | 31099 | 0 |
| OCFC | 7 | 27348 | 2 |
| CTO | 10 | 99379 | 0 |
| BSTC | 6 | 15049 | -1 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of seven hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $43 million. Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co. (NYSEAMEX:CTO) is the most popular stock in this table, but Green Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:GNBC), even though is less popular, it registered more funds buying its shares than other companies, which could serve as an indicator for a long position. However, a more detailed analysis is required before making a decision whether or not GNBC is worth to be added to your portfolio.