Why These Five Stocks Are Trading Higher Today

U.S. markets continue to rebound on Wednesday, as investors rushed to buy the stocks that were beaten down by the Brexit. Not only are all three major stock indexes spiking today, but so are oil, gas, the Euro, Treasuries, and precious and industrial metals.

Among the individual stocks on the rise on Wednesday, we can count Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (USA) (NYSE:CP), Matador Resources Co (NYSE:MTDR), Shopify Inc (NYSE:SHOP) and CryoPort Inc (NASDAQ:CYRX). So, let’s take a look into the events behind the moves of these stocks, and see what the funds in our database think about the companies in question.

Through extensive research, we determined that imitating some of the picks of hedge funds and other institutional investors can help generate market-beating returns over the long run. The key is to focus on the small-cap picks of these investors, since they are usually less followed by the broader market and are less price-efficient. Our backtests that covered the period between 1999 and 2012, showed that following the 15 most popular small-caps among hedge funds can help a retail investor beat the market by an average of 95 basis points per month (see more details here).

Exxon Mobil Surges On Oil Rebound, Mozambique Rumor

Shares of Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) are up by about 1.7% on Wednesday, accompanying the rise in oil prices. In addition, the company is considering the option of acquiring stakes in natural gas discoveries that Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:APC) and Eni SpA (ADR) (NYSE:E) made off the coast of Mozambique, Bloomberg reported – although none of the companies commented on the “rumors or speculation.” Among the hedge funds that we track, 60 disclosed long positions in Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) as of the end of the first quarter of 2016. Among them, we could highlight Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena Investment Management, which last declared holding approximately 4.98 million shares of the company.

Canadian Pacific To Lay Off Employees

Next up is Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (USA) (NYSE:CP), which has gained 2.35% since the market opened on Wednesday, amid news that the company will lay off of 500 maintenance workers, which will begin Thursday. According to the Wall Street Journal, the redundancies were triggered by a decline in the company’s profits and the expectation of a large tumble in revenue in the second quarter. Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (USA) (NYSE:CP) saw the number of hedge funds in our database long its stock surge by 24% to 36 during the first quarter. The largest stake was held by Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square, which last disclosed ownership of 13.94 million shares.

 

Matador Resources Inches On Upgrade

Matador Resources Co (NYSE:MTDR) is up by 5.33%, not only on the back of a rebound in energy prices, but also following an analyst upgrade. Earlier today, analysts at Stifel boosted their rating on the stock from Hold to Buy, setting a $25 price target, to account for the company’s high quality assets and industry-leading returns. Matador Resources Co (NYSE:MTDR) witnessed a 44.4% increase in hedge fund support over the first quarter of 2016 and 13 funds tracked by us held 4.7% of the company’s float at the end of March. Among the newcomers was Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management, with 1.91 million shares, worth more than $36 million.

Shopify Spikes On Analyst Bullishness

Also on the rise on Wednesday is Shopify Inc (NYSE:SHOP), which has advanced by over 5%. The surge was driven by at least two bullish analyst notes: on the one hand, KeyBanc reiterated a Buy rating and $37 price target on the stock; on the other hand, Monness Crespi Hardt initiated coverage with a Buy rating and $35 price target. Shares trade around $30 at the time of the writing of this article. A total of 14 funds among those we track were long Shopify Inc (NYSE:SHOP) at the end of March.

CryoPort Continues Its Rally

Finally, there’s CryoPort Inc (NASDAQ:CYRX), which has gained more than 19% on Wednesday trading, on almost 7.0 times its average volume, continuing with a rally that started on Monday, after the company reported its fourth quarter and full fiscal 2016 financial results, which included 50% revenue growth for the year. The stock’s return this week has surpassed 53%. Having said this, it should be noted that CryoPort Inc (NASDAQ:CYRX) is a nano-cap, and, as such, does not count on much hedge fund support. In fact, none of the funds in our database were long the stock at the end of the first quarter.

 Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no interest in any of the securities or entities mentioned above.