5 Best Performing Penny Stocks of 2016

#3 Harmony Gold Mining Co. (ADR) (NYSE:HMY) 

– Hedge Funds With Long Positions (as of June 30): 11

– Value of Hedge Funds’ Holdings (as of June 30): $50.38 Million

Among the five stocks covered in this article, Harmony Gold Mining Co. (ADR) (NYSE:HMY) was owned by the most hedge funds among those that we track at the end of June. However, the aggregate value of their holdings in the stock declined by more than 80% during the second quarter, despite the stock being nearly flat. Some hedge funds showed some signs of bullishness though, as Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management and Louis Navellier‘s Navellier & Associates initiated stakes in the company during the quarter. Like Vista Gold, shares of Harmony Gold Mining Co. (ADR) (NYSE:HMY) have also registered solid gains this year on the back of the rally in gold prices and are currently trading up by 230.08% year-to-date. On October 17, the company revealed that it achieved a 10% quarter-over-quarter increase in gold production during the third quarter. However, analysts at Citigroup continued to remain bearish on the stock despite that positive development, reiterating their ‘Sell’ rating on it on October 18.

#2 China Commercial Credit Inc (NASDAQ:CCCR) 

– Hedge Funds With Long Positions (as of June 30): 0

– Value of Hedge Funds’ Holdings (as of June 30): 0

Moving on, none of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey reported owning a stake in China Commercial Credit Inc (NASDAQ:CCCR) as of the end of the first or second quarters of 2016. They have missed out on great returns, as the shares of the Chinese financial services firm have witnessed a greater than four-fold increase this year. China Commercial Credit Inc (NASDAQ:CCCR) is engaged in the business of providing loans and loan guarantees to small-to-medium-sized enterprises, farmers and individuals in the Chinese mainland. The company was listed on Nasdaq in August 2013, pricing its offering at $6.50 per share and raising $8.90 million in proceeds. Despite the four-fold increase its stock has enjoyed this year, it is still trading down by more than 70% since its listing.

#1 Alexco Resource Corp. (USA) (NYSEMKT:AXU) 

– Hedge Funds With Long Positions (as of June 30): 3

– Value of Hedge Funds’ Holdings (as of June 30): $3.58 Million

While the number of hedge funds that we track which were long Alexco Resource Corp. (USA) (NYSEMKT:AXU) remained unchanged over the second quarter, the aggregate value of their holdings in it jumped by over 330%. One of the major reasons for the hefty increase in the aggregate value of hedge funds’ holdings in the company was the bullishness of billionaire investors Jim Simons (Renaissance Technologies) and Ken Griffin (Citadel Investment Group), which increased their stakes in Alexco Resource Corp. (USA) (NYSEMKT:AXU) by 29% and 159%, respectively. Shares of the Canada-based silver mining company are currently trading up by 404.32% year-to-date. However, even accounting for those gains, the shares have lost more than 75% of their value in the last five years. Last month, analysts at Canaccord Genuity upgraded the stock to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’.

Disclosure: None