Why These 5 Stocks Are Enjoying Healthy Gains Today

With Wall Street trading with mixed results amid world growth concerns on Tuesday, shares of Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS), Owens & Minor, Inc. (NYSE:OMI), Cambrex Corporation (NYSE:CBM), MaxLinear, Inc. (NYSE:MXL), and Premier Inc (NASDAQ:PINC) are surging in morning trading. Let’s take a closer look at what has sent these stocks higher this morning. We’ll also take the opportunity to examine relevant hedge fund sentiment towards these stocks.

At Insider Monkey, we track around 730 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 here about our small-cap strategy).

First up is Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS), whose shares are 8% in the green after the biomedical company announced a multi-year agreement with American Red Cross for the INTERCEPT Blood System for platelets and plasma. Because of its power to inactivate a broad spectrum of viruses and bacteria, it could be effective to combat the growing threat of the Zika Virus.

During the third quarter, hedge fund sentiment stayed steady in Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS), as the number of investors in our database long the stock remained unchanged at 11, with them holding 26.9% of the float at the end of September. Julian Baker and Felix Baker‘s Baker Bros. Advisors was the largest of those 11 shareholders, with 13.55 million shares valued at $61.53 million at the end of September.

Moving on, Owens & Minor, Inc. (NYSE:OMI) has surged by 8% in the morning session on the back of the company posting its financial results for the fourth-quarter and full-year ended December 31, 2015. For the quarter, Owens & Minor reported revenue of $2.49 billion, flat year-over-year, while its profit advanced to $0.56 per share. Moreover, the results greatly exceeded analysts’ estimates of $0.07 in EPS, though they missed estimates by $20 million in revenue. For the current year, the company maintained its previous forecasts of adjusted earnings per diluted share of between $2.00 and $2.05. Moreover, the company’s board of directors has approved a $0.255 per share cash dividend, a 1% increase over 2015’s dividend payments.

Between July and September of last year, the hedge fund sentiment towards Owens & Minor, Inc. (NYSE:OMI) remained steady, as the number of investors long the stock remained unchanged at 18. Chuck Royce‘s Royce & Associates was the largest shareholder of Owens & Minor in our database, owning 1.37 million shares valued at $43.83 million as of the end of December.

Cambrex Corporation (NYSE:CBM) shares have advanced by 16% in morning trading after the company beat earnings and revenue estimates. For its fourth quarter, Cambrex Corporation reported EPS of $1.01 per share on revenue of $156.94 million, exceeding earnings estimates by $0.18 per share and beating revenue expectations by $4 million.

During the third quarter, Cambrex registered an increase in popularity among the funds that we track, with 25 investors holding long positions at the end of September, versus 21 funds at the end of June. Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies was the largest shareholder of Cambrex in our database, with 348,100 shares valued at $13.81 million at the end of September.

Two of the day’s other big gainers can be found on the next page.

Next on our list is MaxLinear, Inc. (NYSE:MXL), whose stock has gained almost 13% after the company reported fourth quarter 2015 EPS of $0.46 on revenue of $98.95 million. Although the company’s EPS exceeded expectations by $0.03, MaxLinear’s revenue was only in-line with estimates.

Among the funds we follow, 24 reported long positions in MaxLinear, Inc. (NYSE:MXL) as of the end of September, up by one fund from a quarter earlier. Among them, William C. Martin‘s Raging Capital Management was the largest shareholder, reporting a position of 2.69 million shares in its latest 13F filing.

Last but not least, Premier Inc (NASDAQ:PINC) is 10% in the green today, after the company announced good fourth quarter results. For the quarter, Premier reported EPS of $0.42 on revenue of $291.7 million, exceeding analyst estimates by $0.03 per share and $4.83 million, respectively. EPS and revenue each increased by 17% year-over-year.

Hedge fund sentiment towards Premier Inc (NASDAQ:PINC) remained unchanged at 17 during the third quarter. Among the believers of the stock was Panayotis Takis Sparaggis‘ Alkeon Capital Management, with a holding of 3.19 million shares at the end of September.

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