The Insider Monkey team has completed processing the quarterly 13F filings for the September quarter submitted by the hedge funds and other money managers included in our extensive database. Most hedge fund investors experienced strong gains on the back of a strong market performance, which certainly propelled them to adjust their equity holdings so as to maintain the desired risk profile. As a result, the relevancy of these public filings and their content is indisputable, as they may reveal numerous high-potential stocks. The following article will discuss the smart money sentiment towards Strata Skin Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSKN).
Strata Skin Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSKN) has seen an increase in hedge fund interest lately. Our calculations also showed that SSKN isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds (click for Q3 rankings and see the video below for Q2 rankings).
Video: Click the image to watch our video about the top 5 most popular hedge fund stocks.
Why do we pay any attention at all to hedge fund sentiment? Our research has shown that hedge funds’ large-cap stock picks indeed failed to beat the market between 1999 and 2016. However, we were able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the Russell 2000 ETFs by 40 percentage points since May 2014 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that’ll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 27.8% through November 21, 2019. That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
Kevin Kotler of Broadfin Capital
We leave no stone unturned when looking for the next great investment idea. For example Discover is offering this insane cashback card, so we look into shorting the stock. One of the most bullish analysts in America just put his money where his mouth is. He says, “I’m investing more today than I did back in early 2009.” So we check out his pitch. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. We even check out this option genius’ weekly trade ideas. This December, we recommended Adams Energy as a one-way bet based on an under-the-radar fund manager’s investor letter and the stock already gained 20 percent. Now let’s take a peek at the new hedge fund action encompassing Strata Skin Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSKN).
Hedge fund activity in Strata Skin Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSKN)
Heading into the fourth quarter of 2019, a total of 4 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 33% from one quarter earlier. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in SSKN over the last 17 quarters. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey, Broadfin Capital, managed by Kevin Kotler, holds the number one position in Strata Skin Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSKN). Broadfin Capital has a $6.3 million position in the stock, comprising 1.2% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Nantahala Capital Management, managed by Wilmot B. Harkey and Daniel Mack, which holds a $6.1 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining members of the smart money that hold long positions contain Renaissance Technologies, J. Carlo Cannell’s Cannell Capital and . In terms of the portfolio weights assigned to each position Broadfin Capital allocated the biggest weight to Strata Skin Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSKN), around 1.16% of its 13F portfolio. Nantahala Capital Management is also relatively very bullish on the stock, earmarking 0.23 percent of its 13F equity portfolio to SSKN.
Consequently, key money managers have jumped into Strata Skin Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSKN) headfirst. Cannell Capital, managed by J. Carlo Cannell, initiated the largest position in Strata Skin Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSKN). Cannell Capital had $0.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Strata Skin Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSKN). These stocks are Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE:AMPE), CARBO Ceramics Inc. (NYSE:CRR), Dynagas LNG Partners LP (NYSE:DLNG), and Lipocine Inc (NASDAQ:LPCN). This group of stocks’ market caps are closest to SSKN’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMPE | 4 | 210 | -1 |
| CRR | 6 | 9284 | -2 |
| DLNG | 1 | 48 | -2 |
| LPCN | 3 | 1919 | 1 |
| Average | 3.5 | 2865 | -1 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 3.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $3 million. That figure was $16 million in SSKN’s case. CARBO Ceramics Inc. (NYSE:CRR) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Dynagas LNG Partners LP (NYSE:DLNG) is the least popular one with only 1 bullish hedge fund positions. Strata Skin Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSKN) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. Our calculations showed that top 20 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 37.4% in 2019 through the end of November and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 9.9 percentage points. Hedge funds were also right about betting on SSKN as the stock returned 14.9% during the fourth quarter (through the end of November) and outperformed the market. Hedge funds were rewarded for their relative bullishness.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
