Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Kforce Inc. (KFRC)

Kforce Inc. (NASDAQ:KFRC) investors should be aware of an increase in hedge fund sentiment lately.

In today’s marketplace, there are tons of gauges investors can use to track their holdings. A duo of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top hedge fund managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Equally as important, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the stock market universe. There are a variety of motivations for an insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if shareholders understand what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, let’s take a peek at the key action surrounding Kforce Inc. (NASDAQ:KFRC).

What have hedge funds been doing with Kforce Inc. (NASDAQ:KFRC)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 33% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly.

According to our comprehensive database, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the largest position in Kforce Inc. (NASDAQ:KFRC). Royce & Associates has a $12.4 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. On Royce & Associates’s heels is AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, which held a $6 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedge funds that are bullish include Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.

As one would reasonably expect, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Arrowstreet Capital, managed by Peter Rathjens Bruce Clarke and John Campbell, established the most valuable position in Kforce Inc. (NASDAQ:KFRC). Arrowstreet Capital had 1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies also initiated a $0.2 million position during the quarter.

What have insiders been doing with Kforce Inc. (NASDAQ:KFRC)?

Bullish insider trading is best served when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time period, Kforce Inc. (NASDAQ:KFRC) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 12 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Kforce Inc. (NASDAQ:KFRC). These stocks are Trueblue Inc (NYSE:TBI), Compass Diversified Holdings (NYSE:CODI), AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AHS), Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA), and DICE HOLDINGS, INC. (NYSE:DHX). This group of stocks belong to the staffing & outsourcing services industry and their market caps are closest to KFRC’s market cap.