These 4 Stocks are Enjoying a Green Day

At a time when the major indexes are in bull market territory, shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX), Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation (NASDAQ:BGFV), IntelliPharmaCeutics Intl Inc (USA) (NASDAQ:IPCI) and Tuesday Morning Corporation (NASDAQ:TUES) are also well in the green. In the following article, we will examine why investors are buying these stocks despite the market uncertainty and also examine the latest hedge fund activity in them.

Hedge funds have been underperforming the market for a very long time. However, this was mainly because of the huge fees that hedge funds charge as well as the poor performance of their short books. Hedge funds’ long positions performed actually better than the market. Small-cap stocks, activist targets, and spinoffs were among the bright spots in hedge funds’ portfolios (read the details here). This strategy also managed to beat the market by double digits annually in our back tests covering the 1999-2012 period.

After a disastrous start to the year, with losses at around 42% year-to-date, shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) are rebounding today on the back of positive news regarding the company’s copper production for fiscal year 2016. The company expects production growth of 25% compared to the previous fiscal year. Moreover, in the mines of Peru, the company expects to grow its production by 65% this fiscal year compared to the previous one.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) gained popularity among the investors that we track in the third quarter. 44 funds held shares of the company on September 30, up by three over the quarter, and they amassed 13.8% of the float. Among them, Carl Icahn‘s Icahn Capital LP was the largest shareholder, reporting a position of 100.0 million shares in its latest 13F filing.

Moving on, Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation (NASDAQ:BGFV) shares are up by 10% today after the company reported fourth-quarter revenue of $275.0 million, beating estimates of $262.3 million. The company’s revenue rose by $24.7 million compared to the same quarter a year earlier. Same-store sales increased by 0.1%, while its merchandise margins inched up by 20 basis points. For fiscal year 2015, Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation reported net sales of $1.03 billion, up by 5.3% year-over-year, and same-store sales were up by 1.3% for the year.

Among the funds that we follow, 15 reported long positions in Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation (NASDAQ:BGFV) as of the end of September, down by one from a quarter earlier and they amassed 19.4% of the float. Among those funds from our database that were long the stock was Alexander Medina Seaver‘s Stadium Capital Management,  which has an activist position and has been seeking better performance from the company.

Tuesday Morning Corporation and IntelliPharmaCeutics are examined on the next page.

Next up, we’ve got IntelliPharmaCeutics Intl Inc (USA) (NASDAQ:IPCI), which was a big gainer in morning trading, as its shares have risen by over 15% on the day. The push for the stock came about after favorable results the its bioequivalence studies between Rexista Oxycodone XR and Purdue Pharma’s Oxycontin (oxycodone hydrochloride). The study was based on FDA recommendations and the metrics obtained were within the range required by the agency.

Chao Ku‘s Nine Chapters Capital Management was the only shareholder of IntelliPharmaCeutics Intl Inc (USA) (NASDAQ:IPCI) in our database on September 30, reporting a position of 12,900 shares in its latest 13F filing.

Finally, among the big gainers today is Tuesday Morning Corporation (NASDAQ:TUES). Shares of the retailer are 7% in the green after CEO Steven R. Becker bought 487,530 shares of the stock at an average price of $5.12 per share. The vote of confidence from the CEO appears to have spurred other investors to buy shares of the company.

13 funds in our system held shares of Tuesday Morning Corporation (NASDAQ:TUES) on September 30, down by three funds over the quarter, and they amassed 17.8% of the float. Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson‘s Adage Capital Management was the largest shareholder among those 13, with 3.57 million shares valued at $19.31 million.

Disclosure: None