Hedge Funds Aren’t Crazy About Syneron Medical Ltd. (ELOS) Anymore

We view hedge fund activity in the stock unfavorable, but in this case there was only a single hedge fund selling its entire position: Marshall Wace LLP. One hedge fund selling its entire position doesn’t always imply a bearish intent. Theoretically a hedge fund may decide to sell a promising position in order to invest the proceeds in a more promising idea. However, we don’t think this is the case in this case because none of the 700+ hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey identified ELOS as a viable investment and initiated a position in the stock.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Syneron Medical Ltd. (NASDAQ:ELOS) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Contango Oil & Gas Company (NYSEAMEX:MCF), Scorpio Bulkers Inc (NYSE:SALT), Franklin Covey Co. (NYSE:FC), and Electrum Special Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:ELECU). All of these stocks’ market caps resemble ELOS’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 11 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $63 million. That figure was $98 million in ELOS’s case. Electrum Special Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:ELECU) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Franklin Covey Co. (NYSE:FC) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Syneron Medical Ltd. (NASDAQ:ELOS) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard ELECU might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.

Disclosure: None