Hedge Funds Are Crazy About LSI Industries, Inc. (LYTS)

LSI Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYTS) was in 5 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. LYTS shareholders have witnessed an increase in hedge fund sentiment of late. There were 4 hedge funds in our database with LYTS positions at the end of the previous quarter.

In the financial world, there are a multitude of metrics shareholders can use to monitor Mr. Market. A pair of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite money managers can outpace the broader indices by a significant amount (see just how much).

Equally as key, bullish insider trading activity is another way to break down the marketplace. There are a variety of motivations for an insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, it’s important to take a glance at the recent action encompassing LSI Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYTS).

How have hedgies been trading LSI Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYTS)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 5 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 25% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably.

Of the funds we track, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the most valuable position in LSI Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYTS). Royce & Associates has a $18.8 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Iridian Asset Management, managed by David Cohen and Harold Levy, which held a $0.3 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers with similar optimism include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Ken Gray and Steve Walsh’s Bryn Mawr Capital and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.

As industrywide interest jumped, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Bryn Mawr Capital, managed by Ken Gray and Steve Walsh, created the most outsized position in LSI Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYTS). Bryn Mawr Capital had 0.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter.

Insider trading activity in LSI Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYTS)

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last six-month time period, LSI Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYTS) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to LSI Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYTS). These stocks are Capstone Turbine Corporation (NASDAQ:CPST), JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (NYSE:JKS), Coleman Cable, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCIX), Exide Technologies (NASDAQ:XIDE), and Skullcandy Inc (NASDAQ:SKUL). All of these stocks are in the industrial electrical equipment industry and their market caps are closest to LYTS’s market cap.