Why Are These Stocks Surging on Monday?

At a time when the S&P is down 2.16% and the Dow is off by almost 400 points, Sypris Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:SYPR), Atlas Resource Partners, L.P. (NYSE:ARP), Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE:SWN), General Steel Holdings Inc (NYSE:GSI), and FuelCell Energy Inc (NASDAQ:FCEL) are each surging on the back of different reasons. Let’s find out why.

In addition, let’s analyze hedge fund sentiment toward these stocks, if relevant. In the eyes of most traders, hedge funds are assumed to be underperforming, old investment tools of the past. While there are more than 8000 funds in operation at present, Hedge fund experts at Insider Monkey look at the aristocrats of this group, around 730 funds. Contrary to popular belief Insider Monkey’s research revealed that hedge funds underperformed in recent years because of their short positions as well as the huge fees that they charge. Hedge funds managed to outperform the market on the long side of their portfolio. In fact, the 15 most popular small-cap stocks among hedge funds returned 102% since the end of August 2012 and beat the S&P 500 Index by 53 percentage points (see the details here).

Leading off our list is Sypris Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:SYPR), whose shares have surged almost 30% in morning trading on no news. Because the company is a nano-cap stock and has a float of just 11.02 million shares, Sypris Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:SYPR)’s stock can move very quickly in one direction or the other if a big investor or trader decides to change his position in the company. Of the around 730 elite funds we track, two funds owned $637,000 worth of Sypris shares at the end of September.

Atlas Resource Partners, L.P. (NYSE:ARP) shares are well in the green due to the rise in crude prices. Because tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran have become more heated after Saudi Arabia executed Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, Brent near month futures were up 3% and WTI futures were up 2% earlier this morning. If crude and gas prices go higher, Atlas Resource Partners, L.P. (NYSE:ARP)’s fundamentals will improve. Also helping demand is some technical buying after Atlas shares closed above a key moving average to end 2015. Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors was among 5 elite funds that owned shares of the company at the end of September.

On the next page, we examine Southwestern Energy Company, General Steel Holdings, and FuelCell Energy.

Shares of Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE:SWN) are 2.11% in the green today as the rally in the beaten-up natural gas producer continues. Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE:SWN) fell by 74% in 2015 as investors worried that the natural gas glut and Southwestern’s debt burden could hobble the company. Some investors began buying in mid-December and are buying now because the weather is becoming colder and the natural gas market will improve in the long run as the U.S. ramps up its LNG exports over the next few years. A total of 38 funds from our database amassed around 11.7% of Southwestern Energy Company’s float as of the end of the third quarter. That’s up by five funds from the end of the second quarter.

As another example of the extreme volatility in low-float, nano-cap stocks, General Steel Holdings Inc (NYSE:GSI), a China-based iron and steel company with seven million metric tons of crude steel production capacity, surged by over 105% before being frozen at 10:43 AM on no specific news. Because of the extreme volatility, we would stay on the sidelines on this one. According to our data, two investors disclosed $376,000 worth of General Steel Holdings Inc (NYSE:GSI)’s shares in their last 13F filings.

Wrapping up our list of green stocks today is FuelCell Energy Inc (NASDAQ:FCEL), whose shares are 6% in the green after the company announced it will build a 5.6 MW power plant for a Pfizer research complex in Groton, Connecticut. The fuel cells will supply the facility with electricity for over 20 years. The hedge fund sentiment around FuelCell Energy Inc (NASDAQ:FCEL) has remained stable, with the number of elite funds long the stock rising by one to eight during the third quarter.

Disclosure: none