How Loral Space & Communications Ltd. (LORL) Stacks Up Against Its Peers

You probably know from experience that there is not as much information on small-cap companies as there is on large companies. Of course, this makes it really hard and difficult for individual investors to make proper and accurate analysis of certain small-cap companies. However, well-known and successful hedge fund investors like Carl Icahn and George Soros hold the necessary resources and abilities to conduct an extensive stock analysis on small-cap stocks, which enable them to make millions of dollars by identifying potential winners within the small-cap galaxy of stocks. This represents the main reason why Insider Monkey takes notice of the hedge fund activity in these overlooked stocks.

Is Loral Space & Communications Ltd. (NASDAQ:LORL) the right pick for your portfolio? The best stock pickers are getting more bullish. The number of long hedge fund bets increased by 1 recently. 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 Adeptus Health Inc (NYSE:ADPT), Flow International Corporation (NASDAQ:FLOW), and Etsy Inc (NASDAQ:ETSY) to gather more data points.

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What does the smart money think about Loral Space & Communications Ltd. (NASDAQ:LORL)?

Heading into the fourth quarter of 2016, a total of 24 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a 4% increase from the second quarter of 2016. Ownership of the stock has remained in a narrow range of between 23 and 25 hedge funds for several quarters. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey, MHR Fund Management, managed by Mark Rachesky, holds the most valuable position in Loral Space & Communications Ltd. (NASDAQ:LORL). MHR Fund Management has a $333.6 million position in the stock, comprising 23.6% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Highland Capital Management, led by James Dondero, holding an $82.3 million position; the fund has 2.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining members of the smart money that are bullish include Christopher Pucillo’s Solus Alternative Asset Management, Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors and Eric Edidin and Josh Lobel’s Archer Capital Management.

As aggregate interest increased, some big names were breaking ground themselves. Nokomis Capital, managed by Brett Hendrickson, initiated the most valuable position in Loral Space & Communications Ltd. (NASDAQ:LORL). Nokomis Capital had $9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. David Brown’s Hawk Ridge Management also made a $4.6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new LORL positions are Adam Fox and Samuel Elder’s Altalis Capital Partners and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Loral Space & Communications Ltd. (NASDAQ:LORL). We will take a look at Adeptus Health Inc (NYSE:ADPT), Flow International Corporation (NASDAQ:FLOW), Etsy Inc (NASDAQ:ETSY), and Apollo Commercial Real Est. Finance Inc (NYSE:ARI). This group of stocks’ market valuations are closest to LORL’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 14.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $166 million. That figure was $683 million in LORL’s case. Etsy Inc (NASDAQ:ETSY) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Apollo Commercial Real Est. Finance Inc (NYSE:ARI) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Loral Space & Communications Ltd. (NASDAQ:LORL) 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.

Disclosure: None