Friday’s Market Movers & Shakers: BP, Gevo, Orbotech, More

The market is in ‘risk off’ mode as all three indexes are in the red today and the 10-year Treasury yield is near its 2016 low as investors brace for a potential Brexit. Among the stocks moving more than the indexes are Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ:GEVO), Orbotech Ltd (NASDAQ:ORBK), BP plc (ADR) (NYSE:BP), Emerge Energy Services LP (NYSE:EMES), and New Concept Energy, Inc. (NYSEMKT:GBR). Let’s see what the world’s greatest investors think of each stock and see how and why other traders are buying and selling them today.

Our research 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).

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Gevo to Make a Stock Offering

Nano-cap Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ:GEVO)‘s shares are off by almost 35% today after the company priced its best efforts public offering of just over 21.08 million shares of common stock at $0.45 per share. Cowen and Company is the sole book runner and the offering is expected to close on or around June 15, 2016. Gevo expects to raise around $9.5 million in gross proceeds and will use the money raised for general corporate purposes. Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ:GEVO) shares took off a few days ago after Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) conducted two commercial flights using Gevo’s renewable alcohol-to-jet fuel. Of the 766 elite funds that we track, just two owned shares of Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ:GEVO) at the end of March. As with all nano-caps, due diligence is required before any purchase.

Orbotech Prices Offering

Orbotech Ltd (NASDAQ:ORBK) is 7% lower after it priced a public offering of 3.85 million shares plus the underwriter over-allotment option of 385,000 shares at $26.52 a piece. Gross proceeds from the issuance are expected to amount to $102.1 million and the company plans to use the money to repay a percentage of its outstanding indebtedness under its credit agreement dated as of August 7, 2014. Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies owned more than 2.00 million shares of Orbotech Ltd (NASDAQ:ORBK) at the end of the first quarter.

On the next page we examine why BP plc, Emerge Energy Services, and New Concept Energy and moving (and shaking) today.

BP in the Red

BP plc (ADR) (NYSE:BP) shares have retreated by almost 2% today on the back of lower Brent crude prices, which are down by 2.3% in afternoon trading. The near month Brent futures contract fell by $1.22 from yesterday’s close to trade at $50.73 per barrel due to the stronger dollar and fears of a Brexit. Lower Brent prices mean lower EBITDA for BP plc (ADR) (NYSE:BP). BP is also in the news today after the company formed a new joint venture in Norway by combining its Norwegian operations with local company Det norske. BP will own 30% of the combined company and is entitled to $140 million in cash. Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management was long almost 1.00 million BP shares as of the most recent 13F reporting period.

Technical Rally Continues for Shares of Emerge Energy

Momentum traders can’t get enough of Emerge Energy Services LP (NYSE:EMES) today, as shares of the company have surged by another 18% to trade above $11 per share. Some traders speculate Emerge’s recent rally is due to a Goldman Sachs note earlier in the week stating that Emerge’s fuels business could fetch $50 million or more. The note also estimated that Emerge Energy has a peak distributable cash flow of $1.53 per unit. At current crude prices, however, peak estimates are just speculation at this point, and it seems that a short squeeze plus technical momentum buying could be playing a larger role behind the price action. No elite funds in our database owned shares of Emerge Energy Services LP (NYSE:EMES) at the end of March.

Technical Buying Detected at Nano-cap

Nano-cap New Concept Energy, Inc. (NYSEMKT:GBR) is 55% higher in the afternoon session due to technical buying. Shares of the company have almost tripled over the last three days on no fundamental news. Given the stock’s super-small float, and the short percentage likely associated with it, forced short-covering could also have something to do with the rally. New Concept Energy, Inc. (NYSEMKT:GBR) wasn’t in the portfolios of any of the funds monitored by Insider Monkey at the end of the first quarter. As with all nano-caps, investors should exercise due-diligence before considering a purchase.

Disclosure: None