Does PC Tel Inc (NASDAQ:PCTI) represent a good buying opportunity at the moment? Let’s briefly check the hedge fund sentiment towards the company. Hedge fund firms constantly search out bright intellectuals and highly-experienced employees and throw away millions of dollars on research activities, so it is no wonder why they tend to generate millions in profits each year. It is also true that some hedge fund players fail unconceivably on some occasions, but their stock picks have been generating superior risk-adjusted returns on average over the years.
Is PC Tel Inc (NASDAQ:PCTI) the right pick for your portfolio? The smart money is taking a pessimistic view. The number of bullish hedge fund positions retreated by 1 recently. PC Tel Inc (NASDAQ:PCTI) was in 6 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 7 hedge funds in our database with PC Tel Inc (NASDAQ:PCTI) positions at the end of the previous quarter. For those who are aware of the latest stock movements, this may not come as a surprise, as the shares of PC Tel Inc (NASDAQ:PCTI) were down 16.3% in the third quarter. We will cover hedge funds that held positions in the stock at the end of the last quarter.
Hedge fund moves are made only after thorough analysis, and deciphering these moves isn’t possible without equivalent resources. For a better understanding of hedge fund sentiment, we will also compare PCTI to other stocks including Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS), Community Bankers Trust Corp. (NASDAQ:ESXB), and Houston Wire & Cable Company (NASDAQ:HWCC) to get a better sense of its popularity.
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Today, there are dozens of indicators market participants put to use to grade their stock investments. Some of the most under-the-radar indicators are hedge fund and insider trading interest. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best money managers can beat their index-focused peers by a very impressive amount (see the details here).
Now, let’s take a look at the fresh action regarding PC Tel Inc (NASDAQ:PCTI).
Hedge fund activity in PC Tel Inc (NASDAQ:PCTI)
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 6 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a drop of 14% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially (or already accumulated large positions).
Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Renaissance Technologies has the biggest position in PC Tel Inc (NASDAQ:PCTI), worth close to $6.4 million, corresponding to less than 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Chuck Royce of Royce & Associates, with a $0.4 million position; the fund has less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds and institutional investors that are bullish encompass Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, and Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors.
Due to the fact that PC Tel Inc (NASDAQ:PCTI) has experienced a declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there lies a certain “tier” of money managers that decided to sell off their positions entirely in the third quarter. Interestingly, Andy Redleaf’s Whitebox Advisors said goodbye to the biggest position of the 700 funds monitored by Insider Monkey, totaling about $0.5 million in stock, and Gavin Saitowitz and Cisco J. del Valle’s Springbok Capital was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $22,000 worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 1 fund in the third quarter.
Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to PC Tel Inc (NASDAQ:PCTI). These stocks are Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS), Community Bankers Trust Corp. (NASDAQ:ESXB), Houston Wire & Cable Company (NASDAQ:HWCC), and Manning and Napier Inc (NYSE:MN). This group of stocks’ market caps resemble PC Tel Inc (NASDAQ:PCTI)’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZEUS | 9 | 4490 | -1 |
| ESXB | 5 | 13802 | 5 |
| HWCC | 9 | 28259 | -1 |
| MN | 11 | 27896 | -3 |
As you can see, these stocks had an average of 9 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $19 million. That figure was $26 million in PC Tel Inc (NASDAQ:PCTI)’s case. Manning and Napier Inc (NYSE:MN) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Community Bankers Trust Corp. (NASDAQ:ESXB) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. PC Tel Inc (NASDAQ:PCTI) is not the least popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard, Manning and Napier Inc (NYSE:MN) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
