Hedge Funds Are Betting On General Employment Enterprises, Inc. (JOB)

The 700+ hedge funds and money managers tracked by Insider Monkey have already compiled and submitted their 13F filings for the third quarter, which unveil their equity positions as of September 30. We went through these filings, fixed typos and other more significant errors and identified the changes in hedge fund positions. Our extensive review of these public filings is finally over, so this article is set to reveal the smart money sentiment towards General Employment Enterprises, Inc. (NYSEMKT:JOB).

General Employment Enterprises, Inc. (NYSEMKT:JOB) shareholders have witnessed an increase in enthusiasm from smart money lately. It is quite surprising, as the share prices of General Employment Enterprises, Inc. (NYSEMKT:JOB) were down 58.7% throughout the third quarter. In order to understand more about this behaior, we will discuss hedge funds that held positions in General Employment Enterprises, Inc. (NYSEMKT:JOB) at the end of September.

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 Roka Bioscience Inc (NASDAQ:ROKA), CASI Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CASI), and Arc Group WorldWide Inc (NASDAQ:ARCW) to gather more data points.

In today’s marketplace, there are many gauges shareholders put to use to appraise publicly traded companies. Two of the best gauges are hedge fund and insider trading activity. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best hedge fund managers can trounce the broader indices by a significant margin (see the details here).

Now, let’s take a look at the recent action regarding General Employment Enterprises, Inc. (NYSEMKT:JOB).

What have hedge funds been doing with General Employment Enterprises, Inc. (NYSEMKT:JOB)?

At the end of Q3, a total of 4 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, an increase of 300% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the most valuable position in General Employment Enterprises, Inc. (NYSEMKT:JOB). Royce & Associates has a $0.6 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager is Charles Paquelet of Skylands Capital, with a $0.4 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers that hold long positions comprise Mark Coe’s Coe Capital Management, and Renaissance Technologies.

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Hedge funds and institutional investors initiating new positions in General Employment Enterprises, Inc. (NYSEMKT:JOB) include Coe Capital Management, Royce & Associates, and Skylands Capital.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as General Employment Enterprises, Inc. (NYSEMKT:JOB) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Roka Bioscience Inc (NASDAQ:ROKA), CASI Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CASI), Arc Group WorldWide Inc (NASDAQ:ARCW), and CAS Medical Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CASM). All of these stocks’ market caps match General Employment Enterprises, Inc. (NYSEMKT:JOB)’s market cap.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 6 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $6 million. That figure was $1 million in General Employment Enterprises, Inc. (NYSEMKT:JOB)’s case. Roka Bioscience Inc (NASDAQ:ROKA) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, CASI Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CASI) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks, General Employment Enterprises, Inc. (NYSEMKT:JOB) is even less popular than CASI Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CASI). Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock in relation to other companies analyzed in this article, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and understand why the smart money isn’t behind this stock. This isn’t necessarily bad news. Although it is possible that hedge funds may think the stock is overpriced and view the stock as a short candidate, they may not be very familiar with the bullish thesis. In either case, more research is warranted.