Matt Drapkin’s Becker Drapkin Management Keeps Trimming Its Stake in This Stock

As a newly ammendet filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed, Matthew Drapkin and Steven R. Becker‘s Becker Drapkin Management has further cut its exposure to PowerSecure International, Inc. (NYSE:POWR). The fund disclosed ownership of some 976,500 shares of the company, down from around 1.40 million shares held earlier. Following the decrease, the investor holds an activist stake that is equal to 4.4% of PowerSecure’s common stock, versus 6.3% disclosed in the previous filing.

Becker Drapkin Management is a small Texas-based fund that is investing primarily on US-listed small cap stocks. The fund holds an equity portfolio worth $181.91 million as of the end of September. In its largest 13F, the investor disclosed that its largest equity position in terms of value is represented by Comverse Inc (NASDAQ:CNSI), a small-cap provider of telecom business solutions. However, this bet has not yet worked out for the fund, as the stock dropped by around 30% since the fund initiated a stake, and lost over 50% since the end of 2013, when the holding was boosted by more than a tenfold, getting on the top spot in the fund’s equity portfolio. However, other holdings of Becker Drapkin showed better returns. For example, among its latest moves, at the end of October the fund reported raising its stake in Fuel Systems Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:FSYS) to 1.89 million shares, from 1.79 million shares. The stock of Fuel Systems Solutions climbed around 30% since the end of October.

PowerSecure International, Inc. (NYSE:POWR) is another investment made by Mr. Drapkin and Mr. Becker that gained ground over the last several months. The investor has been trimming its stake in the company pretty much since it first disclosed holding shares in May, 2014. As the fund initially reported holding close to 1.98 million shares, the stock appreciated by 30%, while the investor has been selling small amounts of shares from time to time. Becker Drapkin has been also actively trading options of PowerSecure and in its previous filing, reported the sale of 300 ‘Put’ options for $142,500.