Here’s Why These Five Stocks Are Trading Higher Today

Investors are buzzing about WTI today after today’s EIA report showed a significant drop in oil inventories, which confirmed the bullish API report released on Wednesday.

Given the rising oil prices, it’s not surprising that several oil stocks made it to our list of daily gainers. In this article we find out why five companies, Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD), Clovis Oncology Inc (NASDAQ:CLVS), ENSCO PLC (NYSE:ESV), Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE:OAS), and Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK), are trading higher. In addition, we are going to see what smart money investors from our database think about the companies in question.

While there are many metrics that investors can assess in the investment process, the hedge fund sentiment is something that is often overlooked. However, hedge funds and other institutional investors allocate significant resources while making their bets and their long-term focus makes them the perfect investors to emulate. This is supported by our research, which determined that following the small-cap stocks that hedge funds are collectively bullish on can help a smaller investor to beat the S&P 500 by around 95 basis points per month (see the details here).

Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD) bulls are having a good day after the pharmacy chain announced that it will, along with Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), divest between 500 and 1,000 pharmacies to get the FTC’s nod in terms of anti-trust merger approval. Rite Aid previously said they would divest around 500 stores. Walgreens Boots Alliance agreed to buy Rite Aid for $9 in cash per share in a deal announced last year. Investors were previously uncertain that the merger would get the anti-trust approval due to Walgreens’ and Rite Aid’s sizes. Given the new developments, the odds of a successful merger are higher. In addition, the management of both companies still expect the merger to be completed by the end of the year and for the deal to be accretive to adjusted EPS by the end of 2017. Shares of Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD) are 6% in the green on the back of the news. David Einhorn‘s Greenlight Capital established a new stake of 10.33 million shares in Rite Aid in the second quarter.

Clovis Oncology Inc (NASDAQ:CLVS)’s stock is 28% in the green today on the news that the FDA has notified the company that it is not planning to hold an advisory committee meeting over the NDA for rucaparib. Traders took the FDA’s action as a bullish sign and have piled into Clovis. Rucaparib is Clovis’ lead drug candidate for the potential treatment of ovarian cancer. However, the drug’s PDUFA date is still February 23, 2017. The number of funds tracked by us with holdings in Clovis Oncology Inc (NASDAQ:CLVS) fell by three quarter-over-quarter to 21 at the end of June.

On the next page, we examine why ENSCO PLC, Oasis Petroleum, and Chesapeake Energy Corporation are soaring.

Crude-related names Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE:OAS) , ENSCO PLC (NYSE:ESV), and Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) have surged by 4%, 5%, and 11%, respectively, after the EIA released bullish inventory data. According to the agency, oil inventories fell by 14.5 million barrels last week, the most since 1999, and gasoline inventories retreated by 4.2 million barrels. Distillates were the only soft spot, rising by 3.4 million barrels for the time period. Production in the lower 48 states rose by 15,000 barrels per day while production in Alaska fell by 45,000 barrels per day. As a result of the data, WTI futures are up by 3.6%. Although crude inventories are still considerably higher than their five-year averages, the near-record drop alleviates much of the oversupply concern in the market. If the coming week’s EIA numbers also show drops, many traders believe sentiment around WTI and Brent will turn positive. Oasis, ENSCO, and Chesapeake will all experience higher demand if crude prices rise.

Of the around 750 elite funds that we track, 30 funds owned shares of ENSCO PLC (NYSE:ESV), 31 had a bullish position in Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK), and 33 were long Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE:OAS) at the end of the second quarter.

Disclosure: None