Here’s Why These Five Stocks Are Gaining Ground Today

In spite of better-than-expected April retail sales data, U.S. stocks are mostly trading down –although slightly- on Friday, making the S&P 500 and Dow tumble, while the Nasdaq posts some small gains helped by a recuperation in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). Other stocks delivering considerable gains on Friday include HTG Molecular Diagnostics Inc (NASDAQ:HTGM), Realogy Holdings Corp (NYSE:RLGY), Coeur Mining Inc (NYSE:CDE), Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS) and Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLDX). So, let’s take a look at the news driving said spikes, and into what the hedge funds in our database think about the companies involved.

At Insider Monkey, we track around 785 hedge funds and institutional investors. Through extensive backtests, we have determined that imitating some of the stocks that these investors are collectively bullish on can help retail investors generate double digits of alpha per year. The key is to focus on the small-cap picks of these funds, which are usually less followed by the broader market and allow for larger price inefficiencies (see more details about our small-cap strategy).

HTG Spikes On Bristol-Myers Deal

Let’s start with HTG Molecular Diagnostics Inc (NASDAQ:HTGM), a nano-cap medical equipment provider company that has seen its stock gain almost 35% since the market opened today, despite the fact that it reported a top and bottom line miss for the first quarter on Thursday afternoon. Its net loss of $1.02 per share was $0.20 wider than expected, while revenue of $870,000 came in $390,000 short of consensus. However, the stock surged today on the back of an agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY), which stipulates the companies will collaborate in the research of the potential for immuno-oncology molecular profiling in diverse tumor types. As most nano caps, HTG Molecular Diagnostics Inc (NASDAQ:HTGM) is not particularly popular in the hedge fund world. Among the firms that we track, only two were long the stock at the end of 2015. One of them was Bihua Chen’s Cormorant Asset Management, which last disclosed ownership of 201,000 shares of the company.

Realogy Rebounds On Sell-Side Upgrade

Next up is Realogy Holdings Corp (NYSE:RLGY), which is up by 2.45% on Friday afternoon, following an upgrade from Compass Point. On Friday, analyst Fred Small decided to boost his rating on the stock to Buy from Neutral, upping his price target by $5.00 to $40.00. The expert explained that, while the stock is now trading close to its lowest valuation since it went public in 2013, deleveraging and earnings growth could help the price going forward.  Unlike HTG, Realogy Holdings Corp (NYSE:RLGY) counts on plenty of hedge fund support. As of the end of 2015, 49 funds in our database held long positions in the company, with their combined positions accounting for more than 37% of the company’s total shares outstanding. The first quarter of 2016 also saw some newcomers, including Scott Scher & Michael Prober’s Clovis Capital Management, which started a stake, comprising 363,109 shares, over the period.

Surging Gold & Silver Help Coeur Mining

Shares of Coeur Mining Inc (NYSE:CDE) are trading up roughly 8.5% on Friday afternoon, accompanying the surges in gold and silver prices, which are up slightly today. Also helping the shares escalate was an upgrade from BMO Capital, which now rates them an Outperform case, up from a previous rating of Market Perform, arguing that the spike in gold and silver prices should go on over the medium term. A total of 14 funds among those we track were long Coeur Mining Inc (NYSE:CDE) at the end of the fourth quarter. During the first quarter of 2016, GMT Capital acquired a new stake of 5.27 million shares of the company; the stake was valued at almost $30 million by March 31.

Kohl’s Rebounds On Strong April Sales Data

For its part, Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS) is recuperating some of the ground lost on Thursday, trading almost 4% in the green on Friday afternoon. Even though first-quarter results announced on Thursday were quite disappointing, April retail sales data released on Friday helped the stock rebound. So, what’s changed? Well, the poor corporate results suggested U.S. consumers were not spending much; however, this is not exactly the case. It is not that people are not consuming, but that their spending has been reallocated, away from traditional department stores, and into non-store retailers, which saw sales rise by 8.1% in April. Moreover, retail sales as a whole appreciated by 1.3% in April, the Commerce Department report assured. Among the funds that we track, 22 were long Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS) by the end of the fourth quarter of 2015. During the first quarter of 2016, Michael Messner’s Seminole Management joined this list, with a new stake comprising 180,589 shares of the company.

Celldex Rises Along With Other Healthcare Stocks

Finally, there’s Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLDX), which has advanced by 6.65% on Friday, accompanying a wider surge in healthcare stocks, and recuperating some of the ground lost (11.73%) between Tuesday and Thursday. The shares also seemed to be helped by the release of the company’s income statement the full year of 2015. Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLDX) saw nine hedge funds from our database holding shares at the end of 2015. During the first quarter of 2016, First Eagle Investment Management boosted its exposure by 9% to 629,542 shares of the company, becoming the largest hedge fund shareholder of record to date.

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no positions in any of the securities mentioned above.