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m Tidy. Rm uncited claim (requested since Jan '16). Other minor changes.
Improve text with reliable sources (Barron's and Law360) - Bloomberg is not reliable since the company and the reporter were both defendants in a related lawsuit
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On June 16, 2014, Lemelson released a 25-page research report on [[Ligand Pharmaceuticals]], a publicly traded company, that concluded there were severe competitive threats to Ligand's key royalty programs, as well as [[going concern]] risks, and other challenges so significant that the stock had no intrinsic value.<ref>[http://seekingalpha.com/news/1802913-bearish-outlook-for-ligand-from-lemelson-capital "Bearish outlook for Ligand from Lemelson Capital," by Douglas W. House, Seeking Alpha, June 16, 2014], Retrieved September 11, 2014.</ref> On July 3, 2014, Lemelson announced that it had further increased its [[Short (finance)|short position]] in Ligand and released an appended 12-page research report questioning the commercial viability of Ligand's products.<ref>[http://cdn1.valuewalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Ligand-Pharmaceuticals-Appendix.pdf "Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: LGND): Appendix," Lemelson Capital Management], Retrieved September 13, 2014.</ref> On August 7, 2014, the financial media outlet Benzinga reported, "Shares have sold off more than 25 percent since Lemelson Capital published its bearish thesis on the stock in mid-June."<ref name=Jacobi>[http://www.benzinga.com/general/hedge-funds/14/08/4765212/exclusive-emmanuel-lemelson-talks-ligand-pharmaceuticals#ixzz3DDmibZgk "Exclusive: "Emmanuel Lemelson Talks Ligand Pharmaceuticals," by Luke Jacobi, Benzinga, August 7, 2014], Retrieved September 13, 2014.</ref> On November 18, 2014, Benzinga reported that the firm had covered its short position at an approximately 40 percent return.<ref>[https://finance.yahoo.com/news/lemelson-capital-management-cio-discusses-205610470.html "Lemelson Capital Management CIO Discusses Ligand Pharmaceuticals Prior To Company Issuing Weak Guidance," by Jayson Derrick, Benzinga (Yahoo Finance), November 18, 2014], retrieved May 30, 2015.</ref>
On June 16, 2014, Lemelson released a 25-page research report on [[Ligand Pharmaceuticals]], a publicly traded company, that concluded there were severe competitive threats to Ligand's key royalty programs, as well as [[going concern]] risks, and other challenges so significant that the stock had no intrinsic value.<ref>[http://seekingalpha.com/news/1802913-bearish-outlook-for-ligand-from-lemelson-capital "Bearish outlook for Ligand from Lemelson Capital," by Douglas W. House, Seeking Alpha, June 16, 2014], Retrieved September 11, 2014.</ref> On July 3, 2014, Lemelson announced that it had further increased its [[Short (finance)|short position]] in Ligand and released an appended 12-page research report questioning the commercial viability of Ligand's products.<ref>[http://cdn1.valuewalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Ligand-Pharmaceuticals-Appendix.pdf "Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: LGND): Appendix," Lemelson Capital Management], Retrieved September 13, 2014.</ref> On August 7, 2014, the financial media outlet Benzinga reported, "Shares have sold off more than 25 percent since Lemelson Capital published its bearish thesis on the stock in mid-June."<ref name=Jacobi>[http://www.benzinga.com/general/hedge-funds/14/08/4765212/exclusive-emmanuel-lemelson-talks-ligand-pharmaceuticals#ixzz3DDmibZgk "Exclusive: "Emmanuel Lemelson Talks Ligand Pharmaceuticals," by Luke Jacobi, Benzinga, August 7, 2014], Retrieved September 13, 2014.</ref> On November 18, 2014, Benzinga reported that the firm had covered its short position at an approximately 40 percent return.<ref>[https://finance.yahoo.com/news/lemelson-capital-management-cio-discusses-205610470.html "Lemelson Capital Management CIO Discusses Ligand Pharmaceuticals Prior To Company Issuing Weak Guidance," by Jayson Derrick, Benzinga (Yahoo Finance), November 18, 2014], retrieved May 30, 2015.</ref>


In October 2018, [[Barron's (newspaper)|Barron’s]] reported that the SEC filed a civil suit against Lemelson, “accusing him of making false statements” about the company and making $1.3 million in profits by "driving down and betting against" the stock.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.law360.com/articles/1096018/mass-priest-wants-out-of-sec-s-1-3m-short-selling-suit|title=Mass. Priest Wants Out Of SEC's $1.3M Short-Selling Suit - Law360|website=www.law360.com|language=en|access-date=2018-10-27}}</ref> According to Barron’s Lemelson condemned the SEC case as ”an effort to destroy the reputation of a whistle-blower.”<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.barrons.com/articles/why-elon-musk-is-wrong-about-short-sellers-1539384687|title=Tesla CEO Elon Musk Is Wrong About Short Sellers|last=Alpert|first=Bill|access-date=2018-10-27|language=en-US}}</ref>
In September 2018, Lemelson was sued by the SEC for stock manipulation, allegedly making false statements about the company causing the share price to fall and profiting by $1.3m from the short positions.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-12/hedge-fund-priest-sued-by-sec-for-alleged-stock-manipulation |title=Hedge Fund Priest Sued by SEC for Alleged Stock Manipulation |work=Bloomberg |author=Matt Robinson |date=September 12, 2018 |accessdate=September 13, 2018}}</ref>


=== Geospace Technologies ===
=== Geospace Technologies ===

Revision as of 17:08, 27 October 2018

Lemelson Capital Management
Company typeLimited Liability Company
IndustryHedge Fund
Headquarters
Marlborough, Massachusetts
,
U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Emmanuel Lemelson, Chief Investment Officer
ProductsThe Amvona Fund, LP The Amvona Fund, Ltd
Websitelemelsoncapital.com

Lemelson Capital Management is a United States-based global investment management company founded in 2012 by Emmanuel Lemelson who is also a Greek Orthodox priest. The company is the general partner of The Amvona Fund, LP, a hedge fund that as of late 2015 managed around $20 million.

The company has focused on deep value and special situation investments. Within three years of its launch it had reported a net gain of 150%.

Management

Since its inception, Lemelson Capital has been managed by its chief investment officer Father Emmanuel Lemelson, who is also a Greek Orthodox priest.

Hedge fund performance

The Amvona Fund, LP, is a hedge fund that was launched in September 2012, and as of late 2015 managed around $20 million.[1] In July 2013 and October 2013, Barron's named the it the best performing hedge fund in the world for those months.[2][3] In October 2014, the fund was named the world's top "long bias" fund for August 2014 by the investment research firm BarclayHedge.[4] By mid 2015 the company reported a net return since its launch of 150 percent.[5]

Since 2014 the firm has publicized its performance under the provisions of the JOBS Act,[6] one of a handful of hedge fund managers to do so.[7]

Investments and activism

World Wrestling Entertainment

In March 2014 Lemelson Capital Management announced that it was short World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE:WWE) (then trading at new highs of over $30/share). Lemelson issued reports explaining why he thought the company was overvalued and placed fair value of WWE shares between $8.25 and $11.88.[8] By May 2014 the WWE share price had fallen to around $11 and LCM announced that it had covered its short position and bought shares at the low price.[9] In Feb 2015, Lemelson announced that it had sold its stake in WWE at $16.50.[10]

Kulicke & Soffa Industries

On April 22, 2014, Lemelson Capital announced that it had been acquiring the stock of Kulicke & Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) and issued an open letter to the company's Chief Executive Officer calling on the company to initiate a tender offer for its shares, which Lemelson said were substantially undervalued.[11][12] The stock rose ten percent on the announcement of Lemelson Capital's involvement.[13] Four months later, on August 27, 2014, Kulicke & Soffa announced that its Board of Directors had authorized a share purchase of up to $100 million.[14]

Ligand Pharmaceuticals

On June 16, 2014, Lemelson released a 25-page research report on Ligand Pharmaceuticals, a publicly traded company, that concluded there were severe competitive threats to Ligand's key royalty programs, as well as going concern risks, and other challenges so significant that the stock had no intrinsic value.[15] On July 3, 2014, Lemelson announced that it had further increased its short position in Ligand and released an appended 12-page research report questioning the commercial viability of Ligand's products.[16] On August 7, 2014, the financial media outlet Benzinga reported, "Shares have sold off more than 25 percent since Lemelson Capital published its bearish thesis on the stock in mid-June."[17] On November 18, 2014, Benzinga reported that the firm had covered its short position at an approximately 40 percent return.[18]

In October 2018, Barron’s reported that the SEC filed a civil suit against Lemelson, “accusing him of making false statements” about the company and making $1.3 million in profits by "driving down and betting against" the stock.[19] According to Barron’s Lemelson condemned the SEC case as ”an effort to destroy the reputation of a whistle-blower.”[20]

Geospace Technologies

In February 2018, Lemelson published an open letter to the board of directors of Geospace Technologies (NASDAQ: GEOS) calling for the removal of the CEO and CFO and a sale of the company.[21] Lemelson later disclosed in a May 15, 2018 regulatory filing that it was no longer a passive investor in the company and controlled 9.3% of Geospace's shares.[22][23]

References

  1. ^ Copeland, Rob (October 28, 2015). "Hedge-Fund Priest: Thou Shalt Make Money". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 19 December 2015. (Subscription required)
  2. ^ "Barron's Names Lemelson Fund as April's Top HF," Evestment, May 28, 2014, Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  3. ^ "Lemelson Capital Management Again Ranks Among World's Top Performing Hedge Funds," HedgeCo.net, March 28, 2014, Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  4. ^ "Business Digest for October 7, 2014," The MetroWest Daily News, October 7, 2014, Retrieved October 7, 2014.
  5. ^ Gara, Antoine (October 27, 2015). "The WSJ's Hedge Fund Priest Has A Terrible Trade Under His Robe". Forbes.
  6. ^ Keidan, Maiya (25 September 2014). "Who wants to be an SEC Target?". HFMweek. p. 20. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  7. ^ "Much Confusion Surrounds JOBS Act Filings". Hedge Fund Alert. August 13, 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  8. ^ "The Short Case for World Wrestling Entertainment," Lemelson Capital Management, March 17, 2014, Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  9. ^ "Lemelson takes down World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. and brings it back up," by Joel Elconin, Benzinga, September 11, 2014, Retrieved October 7, 2014.
  10. ^ "Smack down at World Wrestling Entertainment," by Gary Strauss, USA Today, March 30, 2015, retrieved May 30, 2015.
  11. ^ "Kulicke and Soffa Industries: Large Cash Pile and Activist Involvement," by Alex Gavrish, ValueWalk, April 29, 2014, Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  12. ^ "Open Letter to Kulicke & Soffa's CEO," Seeking Alpha, April 22, 2014, Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  13. ^ "Kulicke & Soffa jumps; activist discloses stake, calls for buyback," Seeking Alpha, April 22, 2014, Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  14. ^ "Lemelson commends Kulicke and Soffa on repurchase," The MetroWest Daily News," August 29, 2014, Retrieved September 11, 2014.
  15. ^ "Bearish outlook for Ligand from Lemelson Capital," by Douglas W. House, Seeking Alpha, June 16, 2014, Retrieved September 11, 2014.
  16. ^ "Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: LGND): Appendix," Lemelson Capital Management, Retrieved September 13, 2014.
  17. ^ "Exclusive: "Emmanuel Lemelson Talks Ligand Pharmaceuticals," by Luke Jacobi, Benzinga, August 7, 2014, Retrieved September 13, 2014.
  18. ^ "Lemelson Capital Management CIO Discusses Ligand Pharmaceuticals Prior To Company Issuing Weak Guidance," by Jayson Derrick, Benzinga (Yahoo Finance), November 18, 2014, retrieved May 30, 2015.
  19. ^ "Mass. Priest Wants Out Of SEC's $1.3M Short-Selling Suit - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
  20. ^ Alpert, Bill. "Tesla CEO Elon Musk Is Wrong About Short Sellers". Retrieved 2018-10-27.
  21. ^ Balboa, Elizabeth (2018-02-12). "Lemelson Capital Demands Geospace (NASDAQ:GEOS) Replace Leadership, Explore Company Sale". Benzinga. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  22. ^ Editorial, Reuters. "BRIEF-Lemelson Capital Management Says Urging Geospace..." U.K. Retrieved 2018-06-23. {{cite news}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  23. ^ "Lemelson Capital Wants to Toss Geospace Execs | Investor | Business". Scribd. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
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