Royce & Associates’ Latest Moves: Matrix Service Co (MTRX) and Cache, Inc. (CACH)

Chuck Royce, the manager of Royce & Associates, has recently revealed two of his latest moves. In an amended filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Royce has disclosed a reduction in his fund’s ownership of Matrix Service Co (NASDAQ:MTRX) to 1.5 million shares, which account for 5.71% of the company’s common shares, from 3.02 million. In another move, Royce has almost tripled his fund’s stake in Cache, Inc. (NASDAQ:CACH) to 1.51 million share or 7% of the total number of shares outstanding.

Chuck Royce

Matrix Service Co (NASDAQ:MTRX) is also present in the portfolio of the legendary hedge fund manager Joel Greenblatt. His fund, Gotham Asset Management, has increased its stake by 67% to approximately 135,500 shares valued at $3.31 million during the fourth quarter of 2013. Cliff Asness and AQR Capital Management are also betting on this stock, having increased their stake by 71% during the same period. AQR currently holds 207,500 shares reportedly worth a little over $5 million.

A provider of construction and maintenance services for the oil and gas industry, Matrix Service Co (NASDAQ:MTRX) has a market cap of $909 million and does not pay a dividend. The stock has advanced 41% to a current price of $34.53 per share and is currently trading at a trailing Price to Earnings (P/E) ratio of 30.xx, which is a little higher than the industry average of 26.20. Matrix Service has reported revenues of $311 million and earnings per share (EPS) of $0.38 for the 2013 fourth quarter. Analysts estimate $333 million in revenues and EPS of $0.34 for the first quarter of 2014.

Cache, Inc. (NASDAQ:CACH) operates mall-based and online retailers of women’s clothing and accessories. The company has a market cap of $71 million and does not pay a dividend. For the 2013 fourth quarter, Cache posted revenues of $55.8 and a loss per share of $0.17, missing market expectations. 2014 first quarter is expected to bring revenues of $49.5 million and a loss per share of $0.35. So far this year the stock has tumbled 39% to a current price of $3.35  per share. It is touted mainly as a Buy with a mean price target of $7.33 per share.

Charles Davidson of Wexford Capital is also optimistic about the prospects of Cache, Inc. (NASDAQ:CACH), having increased his fund’s stake by 4% during Q4 of 2013. In its latest 13F filing, Wexford reported ownership of 1.08 million shares valued at $5.86 million. Thomas E. Lynch is betting big on this stock as well, as Cache, Inc. (NASDAQ:CACH) occupies 13.37% of the equity portfolio of Mill Road Capital Management. The fund held, at the end of 2013, 2.68 million shares worth approximately $14.5 million.

Disclosure: none.

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