These Four Stocks Are Gaining Ground for Different Reasons

Northern Tier Energy LP (NYSE:NTI) jumped by some 8% after the bell and has kept that momentum on the back of Western Refining, Inc. (NYSE:WNR)’s bid to buy it for $17.50 in cash and 0.2266 of its common shares, in a deal worth $1.6 billion. Western Refining already owns 38% of Northern Tier Energy LP, and including the 15% premium, the deal has a high chance to succeed. Northern Tier’s stock has gained 18% since the beginning of the year, and since it’s a Master Limited Partnership, it pays high dividends, as evidenced by its stock sporting a yield of over 16%.

Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI) has appreciated by some 12% today, which partly offset its 25% drop on Friday. The drop came on the back of Merit’s financial results for the third quarter, which included revenue of $136 million, up by 6% on the year and EPS of $0.20 (non-GAAP), down from $0.25 reported a year earlier. Moreover, the revenue missed the estimates of $137.8 million, while the EPS met the expectations. However, the stock is still up by 15% year-to-date and earlier today Barrington Research upgraded the stock to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Market Perform’, with a $22.00 price target on it. On the other hand, among the funds from our database, Merit Medical Systems has been a rather unpopular stock, since only 18 funds reported stakes equal to 8% of the company’s outstanding stock at the end of June. During the third quarter, billionaire Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management initiated a stake in Merit Medical Systems, Inc., reporting a stake containing 147,755 shares in its latest 13F.

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