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

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With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key hedge funds have jumped into Lawson Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAWS) headfirst. Millennium Management, managed by Israel Englander, established the most outsized position in Lawson Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAWS). The fund had $0.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Gavin Saitowitz and Cisco J. del Valle’s Springbok Capital also made a $15,000 investment in the stock during the quarter.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Lawson Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAWS) but similarly valued. These stocks are Adept Technology Inc (NASDAQ:ADEP), Nabriva Therapeutics AG-ADR (NASDAQ:NBRV), Radiant Logistics, Inc. (NYSEMKT:RLGT), and GP Investments Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:GPIAU). This group of stocks’ market valuations are similar to LAWS’s market valuation.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
ADEP 8 19825 3
NBRV 8 30698 8
RLGT 12 19430 3
GPIAU 8 50035 -1

As you can see these stocks had an average of 9 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $30 million. That figure was a meager $9 million in the case of LAWS. Radiant Logistics, Inc. (NYSEMKT:RLGT) is the most popular stock in this table, while the other three stocks have accumulated the same number of hedge fund long positions. Lawson Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAWS) is less popular than all the stocks in this group. Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock in relation to other companies analyzed in this article, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and understand why the smart money isn’t behind this stock. This isn’t necessarily bad news. Although it is possible that hedge funds may think the stock is overpriced and view the stock as a short candidate, they may not be very familiar with the bullish thesis. In either case more research is warranted.

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