J. Carlo Cannell, Cannell Capital Add to Position in Hooper Holmes

J. Carlo Cannell is bullish on Hooper Holmes, Inc. (NYSEMKT:HH), and according to a recent Form 4 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Cannell’s fund Cannell Capital has revealed the acquisition of 96,225 shares, in three transactions, at prices between $0.45 and $0.46 per share. Following the deals, Cannell Capital’s position has been increased to 10,042,991 shares. With Hooper Holmes currently trading at $0.52 apiece, Cannell’s investment is worth $5.2 million.

Chuck Royce, the manager of Royce & Associates, has liquidated the fund’s stake in Hooper Holmes. Having previously owned 1.8 million shares, Royce & Associates has reported in the latest 13F filing no ownership of Hooper Holmes stock. Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies has also reduced its stake. According to the latest 13F report, the fund has decreased the holding of Hooper Holmes stock by 45,000 shares to 869,000 shares reportedly worth $409,000.

Hooper Holmes provides life and health insurance companies with services of health risk assessment. At the end of September, the company reported the sale of Portamedic service line. American Para Professional Systems, Inc. paid $81 million in cash for the division and allowed Hooper Holmes to retain its existing Portamedic working capital. Ronald Aprahamian, Chairman of the Board, said:

As a result of this transaction, we have improved our balance sheet with cash on hand, and can now provide improved services to our current clients and pursue the growing Health and Wellness industry. We believe these efforts will lead us to profitable operations and provide improved results for our shareholders.

On September 26th, the company announced the promotion of Tom Collins to the position of Chief Financial Officer. Collins previously held the position of Senior Vice President of Operations for Hooper Holmes’ Portamedic division.

The company’s shares have a beta of 1.91, making it a rather volatile stock, and it currently pays no dividend. For the third quarter of 2013, Hooper Holmes reported revenues of $10.9 million and a loss per diluted share of $0.05.

Disclosure: none

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