Do Hedge Funds Love Luminex Corporation (LMNX)?

There are several ways to beat the market, and investing in small cap stocks has historically been one of them. We like to improve the odds of beating the market further by examining what famous hedge fund operators such as Carl Icahn and George Soros think. Those hedge fund operators make billions of dollars each year by hiring the best and the brightest to do research on stocks, including small cap stocks that big brokerage houses simply don’t cover. Because of Carl Icahn and other elite funds’ exemplary historical records, we pay attention to their small cap picks. In this article, we use hedge fund filing data to analyze Luminex Corporation (NASDAQ:LMNX).

Is Luminex Corporation a buy here? The best stock pickers are betting on the stock. The number of bullish hedge fund bets went up by 1 in recent months. LMNX was in 23 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 22 hedge funds in our database with LMNX holdings at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare LMNX to other stocks including Harsco Corporation (NYSE:HSC), Retrophin Inc (NASDAQ:RTRX), and Accelerate Diagnostics Inc (NASDAQ:AXDX) to get a better sense of its popularity.

Now, let’s analyze the fresh action regarding Luminex Corporation (NASDAQ:LMNX).

What does the smart money think about Luminex Corporation (NASDAQ:LMNX)?

At the end of the third quarter, a total of 23 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 5% from the second quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially (or already accumulated large positions).

According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, RGM Capital, managed by Robert G. Moses, holds the number one position in Luminex Corporation (NASDAQ:LMNX). RGM Capital has a $26.6 million position in the stock, comprising 3.6% of its 13F portfolio. On RGM Capital’s heels is Tamarack Capital Management, managed by Justin John Ferayorni, which holds a $16.1 million position; 1.9% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other members of the smart money that hold long positions comprise Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies and Richard Mashaal’s Rima Senvest Management.

Now, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. Gotham Asset Management, managed by Joel Greenblatt, assembled the most valuable position in Luminex Corporation (NASDAQ:LMNX). Gotham Asset Management had $2.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital also initiated a $0.9 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management and Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Luminex Corporation (NASDAQ:LMNX). These stocks are Harsco Corporation (NYSE:HSC), Retrophin Inc (NASDAQ:RTRX), Accelerate Diagnostics Inc (NASDAQ:AXDX), and National Bank Holdings Corp (NYSE:NBHC). This group of stocks’ market valuations are similar to LMNX’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 15.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $138 million. That figure was $104 million in LMNX’s case. Retrophin Inc (NASDAQ:RTRX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Accelerate Diagnostics Inc (NASDAQ:AXDX) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Luminex Corporation (NASDAQ:LMNX) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.