A Look at Five Stocks Gaining Ground on Wednesday

US stocks are trading in the red on Wednesday as traders await the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July meeting, which might give clues on the rate hike timing.

Nevertheless, a number of stocks are trading higher today, including Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX), Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN), OSI Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSIS), MeetMe Inc (NASDAQ:MEET), and Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc (NYSE:LL). Let’s take a closer look at the events that sent these stocks higher and analyze the hedge fund sentiment towards them.  

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Morgan Stanley Bullish on Valeant Pharmaceuticals

Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX)’s stock has gained over 14% so far today after Morgan Stanley upgraded the company to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Equal weight’ and upped its price target to $42 from $33 as the investment firm  believes that the risk of “severe” financial stress is abating because the company is renegotiating its covenants and paying the debts. Morgan Stanley’s analyst David Risinger said in a report that the Canadian medical company has strong growth prospects under its new CEO, Joe Papa. Mr. Risinger thinks that if Valeant’s Enterprise Value remains constant, deleveraging would result in higher equity value accretion. Earlier this week, Mizuho Securities also upgraded Valeant to ‘Neutral’ following reports that the company placed an offer to pay lenders a higher interest rate in order to amend its debt agreements. Activist Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square owns 21.59 million shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals as of the end of June.

Urban Outfitters Posts Impressive Q2

Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN)’s stock has surged by some 16% on the back of the company posting better-than-expected results for the second quarter. Overall, the Philadelphia-based lifestyle retail company earned $0.66 per share on revenue of $890.6 million during the quarter, surpassing the consensus estimates of $0.56 and $886.84 million, respectively. In addition, comparable-store sales rose 1%, while analysts had expected a decline of 1.2%. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies owns about 1.25 million shares of the company, according to its last 13F filing

On the next page, we will discuss the other three stocks that are trading higher today.

OSI Systems Posts Q4 Earnings

OSI Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSIS)’s stock has jumped by some 12% after the company announced fiscal fourth quarter results, beating estimates on earnings, but falling short of revenue forecasts. The California-based security systems developer posted EPS of $0.55 on $221.5 million revenue, while analysts were expecting EPS of $0.52 on $232.32 million revenue. For fiscal 2017, the company expects its EPS to fall in the range of $2.60-$2.90, versus the consensus of $2.57, while revenue for the year is expected to come in at $865-895 million, versus the consensus of $895.34 million. Josh Goldberg’s G2 Investment Partners Management held 83,400 shares of OSI Systems at the end of June.

MeetMe Reiterates Guidance

MeetMe Inc (NASDAQ:MEET)’s stock has gained over 6% today after the company  reiterated its financial guidance for the third quarter and full-year following the recent volatility in its share price and in anticipation of upcoming investor meetings. The Pennsylvania-based social media company now expects revenue for the third quarter to come in at $17.0 million to $17.5 million, which depicts a growth of 19% to 22%. Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter are expected between $6.5 million and $7.0 million. For the full year, MeetMe expects $66.0 million to $68.0 million in revenue, while adjusted EBITDA for the year is expected to be in the range of $25.0 million to $27.0 million. Renaissance Technologies owns 761,759 shares of MeetMe as of the end of June.

Court Rules in Favor of Lumber Liquidators

Last on our list of today’s soaring stocks is Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc (NYSE:LL), which is up by some 5% so far today after Superior Court of the State of California ruled in favor of the hardwood flooring company in a case in which Lumber Liquidators was accused of not warning its consumers about cancer-causing formaldehyde in some of its flooring products. The court also ordered the plaintiffs to pay Lumber Liquidators $100,000 as reimbursement for costs. In a statement Lumber Liquidators CEO John Presley said that the company is getting strengthened across “every area” including compliance practices. Mr. Presley added that the company looks forward to deliver quality products that are in compliance with the California’s environmental standards. Back in 2014, Global Community Monitor and Sunshine Park LLC filed a lawsuit against Lumber Liquidators, claiming that the company failed to provide a Proposition 65 formaldehyde warning to California consumers. John W. Rogers’ Ariel Investments owned 517,635 shares of Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc (NYSE:LL), as of the end of the first quarter of 2016.

Disclosure: None