John W. Rogers‘ Ariel Investments has boosted its exposure to American Electric Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AETI), a newly amended filing with the SEC showed. The fund disclosed holding over 1.5 million shares of the company, versus around 1.0 million held earlier. The new position is equal to 18.4% of American Electric’s outstanding stock.
American Electric Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AETI) is a nano-cap company, which provides electricity delivery solutions. For the last fiscal year, the company showed a significant increase in its financial results, with its net income amounting to $4.2 million, up by over 100% on the year. At the same time, the income from domestic operations, surged by almost a fivefold to $2.5 million, on revenues worth $65 million, up by 21% on the year.
However, despite big gains, the stock of the company’s declined by 40% since the beginning of the year, and currently trades at around $6.00 per share, which is slightly above its 52-week low. Moreover, the stock trails a P/E of close to 13, lower than the industrial electrical equipment industry average of 28.00. In addition, American Electric Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AETI) has a forward P/E of 12.00.
Another hedge fund, which holds shares of American Electric Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AETI) is Invicta Capital Management, led by Gregory A. Weaver. Invicta has reduced its holding by 15% during the last quarter of 2013, revealing 645,400 shares in its latest 13F. Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies also owns a small position in the company, with a stake of 57,400 shares, as of the end of 2013.
Ariel Investments’ $8.0 billion equity portfolio is divided among several sectors, although Services stocks amass the largest portion of the portfolio. Lazard Ltd (NYSE:LAZ) represents the largest position in the fund’s latest 13F, being represented by a $309 million stake, which contains around 6.8 million shares. First American Financial Corp (NYSE:FAF), comes in second, with Ariel holding almost 10 million shares, worth $281 million.
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