Hedge Fund Giant Betting on Caesars Entertainment

On Wednesday, the Ira Sohn investment conference was held in New York. The Sohn Investment Conference brings together a group of successful investors to present their best investment ideas. The investment ideas presented at Ira Sohn frequently cause large price moves in the individual stocks being discussed, and the 2012 conference was no exception. Among the market-moving hedge fund managers that presented this year were David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital, Bill Ackman of Pershing Square, and John Paulson of Paulson & Co. Benzinga covered all these heavy-hitters, and below is what John Paulson of Paulson & Co said in particular about Caesars Entertainment CZR. On February 8th, Caesars joined competitors Las Vegas Sands LVS and Wynn Resorts WYNN in the stock market, with an IPO of $9 a share. Interest in the company exploded, with over 1.85 million shares trading and the stock price climbing to nearly $14 after the offering. Shares have bounced around since, but are trading at a healthy premium, sporting a $13 handle. Paulson spoke at the Ira Sohn Investment Conference after the market close. The founder of Paulson & Co. said that he is long shares of Caesars Entertainment. He said that the company's social gaming platform Lakita is worth $8 per share alone. Paulson also spoke about the stock's extremely low float, saying that only around 7% of the company is publicly traded. Due to the few number of shares that are freely traded on NASDAQ, rising demand for the stock could cause a sharp price increase. Shares of Caesars spiked higher as Paulson made his pitch, over $14 per share. Caesars continued its strength during Thursday's trading session, however, gave back some early gains as broad US equities traded in the red. Currently, the Dow Jones Industrial Index is trading down about 100 points on the session. Caesars is trading up about 1.64% at $13.70 per share.