Royce Ups $GIII $FINL, Cuts $MMS $AFAM $MPAA Others, Sells $IPSU

Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates really changed things up in the fourth quarter. The fund increased several positions dramatically, while slashing others. It had nine transactions on December 31 that warranted the filing of a 13G

Royce & Associates increased its stake in G III Apparel Group Ltd (GIII) in the third quarter, going from a position of 1.18 million shares at the end of the third quarter to 2.03 million at the end of the fourth quarter, or roughly 10.26% of GIII.

Royce & Associates also increased its stake in Finish Line, Inc. (FINL), moving from 2.38 million shares at the end of the third quarter to 2.85 million shares at the end of the fourth quarter, or 5.61% of the company.

The fund reduced its stake in Maximus, Inc. (MMS) to 2.78 million shares, from 3.71 million shares at the end of the third quarter, bringing its total ownership in the company down to 8.29% as of December 31.

The fund went from having 881,961 shares in Almost Family, Inc. (AFAM) at the end of the third quarter to roughly half that at the end of the fourth quarter, reducing its stake to 434,944 shares, or 4.64% of the company.

The fund’s stake in Knight Capital Group, Inc. (KCG) also changed during the third quarter. Royce reduced its stake in KCG from just over 12.00 million shares at the end of September to roughly 11.10 million shares at the end of December, bringing its total ownership in the company to 11.27%.

Royce also reduced its stake in LHC Group, Inc. (LHCG), going from roughly $1.71 million at the end of the third quarter to 1.02 million shares at the end of the fourth quarter, or about 5.41% ownership of the company.

Royce & Associates were also bearish on Met Pro Corp. (MPR) in the fourth quarter. The fund went from owning 732,569 shares in the company at the end of September to having just 256,668 shares at the end of December, bringing its ownership of the company down to 1.75% at the end of the fourth quarter.

The fund also slashed its holdings in Motorcar Parts America, Inc. (MPAA) on December 31. It went from having more than 1.05 million shares in the company at the end of September to just 659,932 shares at the end of December. The change brought Royce’s total ownership in the company down to just 5.3% at the end of the fourth quarter.

Chuck Royce was most bearish on Imperial Sugar Co. (IPSU), completely selling out of the 1.09 million shares the fund owned at the end of September during the fourth quarter.