Amid lower investor sentiment throughout all major sectors, the shares of Ballard Power Systems Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BLDP), Enphase Energy Inc (NASDAQ:ENPH), and Vedanta Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:VEDL) had particularly volatile trading sessions and slumping shares. Enphase Energy Inc was the biggest loser among them, dropping a meaty 18.10% of its share value during the day’s session.
Let’s start with Ballard Power Systems Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BLDP), the shares of which continued their downward movement, which was set in motion on July 1 after the company announced an underwritten offering of common shares. The fuel cell manufacturer offered 9.34 million common shares through an underwritten offering with gross proceeds of approximately $15 million, including an option to purchase 15% additional shares for the underwriters. Ballard Power Systems Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BLDP) is expecting net proceeds of $13.6 million from the offering after deducting operating expenses, underwriting expenses, and other discounts. The shares of the fuel cell company have declined 33.66% year-to-date, closing at $1.36 at the end of the day’s regular trading session. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies is among the primary investors of the power company, owning 299,700 shares valued at $625,000.
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Enphase Energy Inc (NASDAQ:ENPH) was another stock nearing its 52-week low as its shares closed at $6.20. It has been a tough year for the microinverter system manufacturer, whose shares have declined by 56% year-to-date. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has downgraded its rating for Enphase Energy Inc (NASDAQ:ENPH) to ‘Neutral’, and lowered its price target to $10.00. On average, the company has received a consensus rating of ‘Hold’ from 14 analysts tracking the stock, although they have an average price target of $16.51 on it, which indicates an upside of 166% from its current trading price and suggests the stock should be a ‘Buy’ by their reckoning. However, some of those ratings and price targets are out of date. In its most recent quarterly financial results for the first quarter, Enphase Energy reported a loss per share of $0.07, beating the market’s estimate of a loss of $0.08. Its revenue came in higher than estimates as well, at $86.70 million against the market expectations of $86.40 million. Smart money had a positive outlook on Enphase Energy Inc (NASDAQ:ENPH) at the end of the first quarter, with 24 hedge fund managers holding $134.53 million of the company’s shares against the figures of $117.92 million held by just 14 hedge fund investors three months earlier. Dan Loeb’s Third Point LLC held a large position in the company, owning 6.25 million shares worth $82.42 million.
Vedanta Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:VEDL) was another top loser of the day, with its stock losing 11.94% of its value during the rough day. The natural resources company has been hit hard by the low investor sentiment of late owing to the stock market turmoil in China, as its shares have declined by 19.44% in the last five days. Overall, the shares of Vedanta Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:VEDL) have lost 35.03% year-to-date and are currently trading at $8.70. The company announced a merger with Cairn India Ltd., one of the largest onshore producers in India, both of which are business arms of Vedanta Resources PLC (OTCMKTS:VDNRF). These companies together would boast a market cap of $11 billion and the transaction is likely to close in March 2016. No investors in our database had holdings in the company as of March 31, which has institutional ownership of just 1%.
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