Why GlaxoSmithKline, Groupon, Lending Club And 2 Micro-Caps Are Trending Today

Page 1 of 2

The U.S stock markets are trading up on Monday even as oil has tumbled, thanks to strong financial results and M&A news. Among the stocks on the move today are LendingClub Corp (NYSE:LC), Ballard Power Systems Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BLDP), Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN), Evoke Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:EVOK) and GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR) (NYSE:GSK). Let’s take a look into the news behind the activity in these stocks and see what the hedge funds in our database think about the companies in question.

Our research has shown that the best strategy is to follow hedge funds into their small-cap picks. This approach can allow monthly returns of nearly 95 basis points above the market, as we determined through extensive backtests covering the period between 1999 and 2012 (see the details here).

stocks, analysis, market, numbers, business, ticker, trade, money, price, investment, index, chart

crystal51/Shutterstock.com

LendingClub Rises Upon Appointment of New CCO

Let’s start with LendingClub Corp (NYSE:LC), which has gained 2.45% on Monday morning, driven by the appointment of former BlackRock executive Patrick Dunne as its Chief Capital Officer. The embattled online lender expects Mr. Dunne to help it rebuild and strengthen its relationship with investors, banks and partners. As of the end of the first quarter, 23 funds among those that we track were long LendingClub Corp (NYSE:LC) on March 31, holding more than 11% of its float.

Follow Lendingclub Corp (NYSE:LC)

Ballard Spikes on New Synergy Agreement

Next up is Ballard Power Systems Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BLDP), which has surged by 26.6% in Monday trading after announcing a new agreement with China’s Guangdong Nation Synergy Hydrogen Power Technology Co. Ltd. As per the contract, the companies will establish an FCvelocity®-9SSL fuel cell stack production operation in the city of Yunfu, which should result in an estimated value for Ballard of at least $168 million over 5 years.

Only two funds in our database held long positions in the micro-cap as of the end of the first quarter, including Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies, which disclosed ownership of 326,300 shares of Ballard Power Systems Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BLDP) as of March 31.

Follow Ballard Power Systems Inc (NASDAQ:BLDP)

We’ll check out three other trending stocks on the next page.

Page 1 of 2