Is USA Truck, Inc. (USAK) A Good Stock To Buy?

Hedge Funds and other institutional investors have just completed filing their 13Fs with the Securities and Exchange Commission, revealing their equity portfolios as of the end of September. At Insider Monkey, we follow over 700 of the best-performing investors and by analyzing their 13F filings, we can determine the stocks that they are collectively bullish on. One of their picks is USA Truck, Inc. (NASDAQ:USAK), so let’s take a closer look at the sentiment that surrounds it in the current quarter.

USA Truck, Inc. (NASDAQ:USAK) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds in recent months. 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 Guidance Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:GUID), Quantum Corp (NYSE:QTM), and Ultra Clean Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UCTT) to gather more data points.

In the eyes of most stock holders, hedge funds are viewed as worthless, outdated financial tools of the past. While there are over an 8000 funds in operation today, Our experts look at the upper echelon of this club, around 700 funds. These money managers command the majority of the smart money’s total asset base, and by shadowing their best equity investments, Insider Monkey has figured out numerous investment strategies that have historically beaten the S&P 500 index. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points a year for a decade in their back tests.

Now, let’s analyze the recent action regarding USA Truck, Inc. (NASDAQ:USAK).

What have hedge funds been doing with USA Truck, Inc. (NASDAQ:USAK)?

At the end of the third quarter, a total of 12 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a decline of 14% from the second quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially (or already accumulated large positions).

When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Wilmot B. Harkey and Daniel Mack’s Nantahala Capital Management has the most valuable position in USA Truck, Inc. (NASDAQ:USAK), worth close to $5.2 million, accounting for 0.7% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Claar Advisors, led by Gary Claar, holding a $4.1 million position; 2.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other professional money managers that are bullish encompass Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies, Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors and Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management.