How Key Technology, Inc. (KTEC) Stacks Up Against Its Peers

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Key Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTEC) investors should pay attention to an increase in support from the world’s most successful money managers in recent months. There were 5 hedge funds in our database with KTEC positions at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare KTEC to other stocks including UCP Inc (NYSE:UCP), Sophiris Bio Inc (NASDAQ:SPHS), and Digital Turbine Inc (NASDAQ:APPS) to get a better sense of its popularity.

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Now, we’re going to check out the recent action surrounding Key Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTEC).

How have hedgies been trading Key Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTEC)?

At Q3’s end, a total of 6 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 20% from one quarter earlier. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in KTEC over the last 5 quarters. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Brian Olson’s Kokino LLC has the number one position in Key Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTEC), worth close to $13.4 million, comprising 54% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Rutabaga Capital Management, led by Peter Schliemann, holding a $1.2 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedge funds and institutional investors that are bullish encompass Jim Simons Renaissance Technologies, one of the largest hedge funds in the world, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates and Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors. We should note that none of these hedge funds are among our list of the 100 best performing hedge funds which is based on the performance of their 13F long positions in non-microcap stocks.

As aggregate interest increased, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. GRT Capital Partners, led by Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Krochuk, assembled the biggest position in Key Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTEC). GRT Capital Partners had $0.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Key Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTEC) but similarly valued. These stocks are UCP Inc (NYSE:UCP), Sophiris Bio Inc (NASDAQ:SPHS), Digital Turbine Inc (NASDAQ:APPS), and China Digital TV Holding Co., Ltd.(ADR) (NYSE:STV). This group of stocks’ market values are similar to KTEC’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 4.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $5 million. That figure was $18 million in KTEC’s case. UCP Inc (NYSE:UCP) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Digital Turbine Inc (NASDAQ:APPS) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Key Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTEC) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers and they invested more money in the company’s stock, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.

Disclosure: None