Why Chesapeake, Whiting, Norfolk, Endo and Vivint Solar Are Among Today’s Big Gainers

Norfolk Rallies On Strong Earnings and Analyst Upgrades

Shares of Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE:NSC) are trading up by 10.5% on Friday afternoon, following the announcement of the company’s first quarter financial results. After the market closed on Thursday, the large-cap transportation company posted EPS of $1.29, a hearty $0.32 above the Street’s consensus, on revenue of $2.42 billion, which also beat estimates, by $30 million. It’s not only the results that are helping the stock today; several upgrades (from Credit Suisse and UBS, for example) and price target hikes (i.e. Cowen) are also impacting positively on the share price.

32 elite funds in our database were long Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE:NSC) by the end of the fourth quarter, with their combined stakes being valued at more than half-a-billion dollars.

Endo International Secures 25% Gain This Week

Another gainer today is Endo International plc – Ordinary Shares (NASDAQ:ENDP), which is up by almost 4% in the early afternoon, continuing a big rally seen this week, as shares are up by more than 25% since Monday. It seems like the bullish sentiment this week was due to a few recent analyst reports. On Monday, Deutsche Bank said the shares were “undervalued” after the selloff seen in prior weeks; shares gained 8.2% on Monday. Then, on Thursday, JMP Securities initiated coverage on the company with an ‘Outperform’ rating, which sent the stock up by another 12%.

Among the funds that we track, 53 were long Endo International plc – Ordinary Shares (NASDAQ:ENDP) at the end of the fourth quarter, with their combined stakes accounting for more than 20% of the company’s float. A noticeable position was that of Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management, which declared holding 5.17 million shares of the company as of December 31.

Vivint Solar Escalates on New Strategy

Finally, we’ve got Vivint Solar Inc (NYSE:VSLR), which has gained 5.8% since the market opened today. The rise seems to be a response to the company’s announcement of a new strategy aimed at jump-starting its momentum, as well as a report from Avondale Partners which awarded the stock an ‘Outperform’ rating and $8.00 price target on the back of this new business plan. The stock currently trades at just $3.39.

Ten funds in our database held roughly 11.1% of Vivint Solar Inc (NYSE:VSLR)’s float at the end of December. A position worth highlighting was that of Joshua Friedman and Mitchell Julis’ Canyon Capital Advisors, which held more than 7.57 million shares at the end of 2015.

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no positions in any of 1the securities mentioned in this article.