Do Hedge Funds Love Lawson Products, Inc. (LAWS)?

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The elite funds run by legendary investors such as Dan Loeb and David Tepper make hundreds of millions of dollars for themselves and their investors by spending enormous resources doing research on small cap stocks that big investment banks don’t follow. Because of their pay structures, they have strong incentive to do the research necessary to beat the market. That’s why we pay close attention to what they think in small cap stocks. In this article, we take a closer look at Lawson Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAWS) from the perspective of those elite funds.

Lawson Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAWS) shareholders have witnessed an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds lately. LAWS was in 6 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 5 hedge funds in our database with LAWS positions at the end of the previous quarter. 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 Adept Technology Inc (NASDAQ:ADEP), Nabriva Therapeutics AG-ADR (NASDAQ:NBRV), and Radiant Logistics, Inc. (NYSEMKT:RLGT) to gather more data points.

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In the eyes of most investors, hedge funds are assumed to be unimportant, outdated financial tools of years past. While there are more than 8000 funds trading today, We hone in on the masters of this club, about 700 funds. It is estimated that this group of investors control most of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by keeping an eye on their finest stock picks, Insider Monkey has brought to light numerous investment strategies that have historically exceeded the S&P 500 index. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points per annum for a decade in their back tests.

Now, let’s take a peek at the key action encompassing Lawson Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAWS).

Hedge fund activity in Lawson Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAWS)

Heading into Q4, a total of 6 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, up by 20% from the second quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey, GAMCO Investors, managed by Mario Gabelli, holds the biggest position in Lawson Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAWS), valued at $4.9 million and comprising less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. On GAMCO Investors’s heels is Renaissance Technologies, led by Jim Simons, holding a $1.4 million position; less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining peers that are bullish include Peter Schliemann’s Rutabaga Capital Management, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

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