Why Traders Are Clamoring for These 5 Stocks This Morning

Wall Street is in full-on Bull Mode today, as all three indexes are in the green and the S&P recently hit a record intra-day high. Among the stocks sharing the good times are BioLife Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:BLFS), Imperva Inc (NYSE:IMPV), Concord Medical Services Hldg Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:CCM), Resolute Energy Corp (NYSE:REN), and Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG). In this article, we’ll take a closer look at why investors are loving these five stocks right now and see how elite funds have been trading them of late.

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).

BioLife Solutions Surges on Supply Agreement

BioLife Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:BLFS) shares have rallied by over 93% in morning trading after the nano-cap announced that it has entered into a ten-year supply agreement with Kite Pharma over BioLife’s CryoStor clinical grade freeze media for cells and tissues. Kite Pharma will use BioLife’s media for KTE-C19, the company’s CAR T cell therapy. The exact financial details of the deal have not been disclosed. None of the 766 active funds that Insider Monkey tracks owned BioLife Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:BLFS) at the end of March. As with all nano-caps, investors should exercise due-diligence before buying or selling shares.

Imperva Up on Reuters Article

Imperva Inc (NYSE:IMPV) is 8.9% in the green today on the back of a Reuters article published on Friday after the market close. According to the article, the cyber security firm is looking to hire an investment bank to advise it on its strategic options. Paul Singer‘s activist fund Elliott Management announced taking an 8.8% stake in the company in June and has urged management to consider such “strategic and operational opportunities.” Meaningful cost cuts, divestments, or sales could be construed as positive for the stock. 15 funds in our system were bullish on Imperva Inc (NYSE:IMPV) at the end of March, half as many as were long the stock at the end of December.

On the next page we find out why traders are buying up shares of Concord Medical Services, Resolute Energy, and Lloyds Banking Group this morning.

Going Private Proposal Lifts Concord Medical Shares

Concord Medical Services Hldg Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:CCM) has surged by 10% today after its Board of Directors received a non-binding proposal letter from Mr. Jianyu Yang, chairman and CEO of the company, as well as Morgancreek Investment Holdings Limited, an investment vehicle controlled by Mr. Yang, and other entities which have offered $5.19 per ADS in cash in a proposed going private transaction, subject to certain conditions. Traders are eager to see how Concord’s Board of Directors will respond. Two top funds in our database were long Concord Medical Services Hldg Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:CCM) at the end of March.

Resolute Energy Rises on Upgrade

Analysts at Wunderlich gave the thumbs up to Resolute Energy Corp (NYSE:REN) today, upgrading the stock to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’. Wunderlich also raised its price target to $8 per share from $4. Not surprisingly, shares of Resolute are up by 20% in morning trading, continuing the stock’s surge from Friday, when Resolute announced an agreement to sell its Permian Basin mid-stream assets for a considerable sum. Four elite funds were bullish on Resolute Energy Corp (NYSE:REN) as of the most recent 13F reporting period.

Sentiment Improving at Lloyds 

Last but not least, Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG) is 4.5% higher this morning as sentiment around the bank improves. Although Britain’s decision to leave the EU will certainly hurt the bank and its profits, Lloyds shares have already fallen sharply on the news (by around one-third) and it seems that much of the bad news has already been priced in. If Britain or the EU doesn’t enter a recession or if Britain can work out a deal with the EU to remain the financial capital of Europe, Lloyds could be a good long-term hold, assuming management executes. Seven elite funds that we track were long Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG) at the end of March, up from five funds long the stock on December 31.

Disclosure: None