Why These 5 Stocks Are Immersed in a Sea of Red Today

With all three indices in the green today, shares of Cardiovascular Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSII), Agile Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:AGRX), Spectranetics Corp (NASDAQ:SPNC), LDR Holding Corp (NASDAQ:LDRH), and Tutor Perini Corp (NYSE:TPC) are not partaking in the fun, as all five stocks are well in the red. Let’s find out why investors are selling these five stocks today as well as what relevant hedge funds have to say about them.

While there are many metrics that investors can assess in the investment process, hedge fund sentiment is something that is often overlooked. However, hedge funds and other institutional investors allocate significant resources while making their bets and their long-term focus makes them the perfect investors to emulate. This is supported by our research, which determined that following the small-cap stocks that hedge funds are collectively bullish on can help a smaller investor beat the S&P 500 by around 95 basis points per month (see more details here).

First on the list is Cardiovascular Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSII), whose stock has plummeted by 30% after the company reported a loss of $0.47 per share on revenue of $41.4 million for the second quarter of fiscal year 2016, down by 4% from the second quarter of the prior fiscal year.  Although Cardiovascular Systems beat earnings estimates by $0.03 per share, the company missed revenue expectations by $3.43 million. Guidance was a little disappointing, with management expecting  a loss per share ranging from $0.42 to $0.45 on revenue of between $40.5 million and $42 million for the third quarter of fiscal year 2016.

Hedge funds were pessimistic about the stock in the third quarter. Our data shows that 14 funds that we track owned the company’s shares at the end of the third quarter, down by six from the end of June. Mitchell Blutt’s Consonance Capital Management reported holding a $36.86 million position in the stock as of the end of September, comprising 5.2% of its 13F portfolio.

Moving on, Agile Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:AGRX) shares have lost 10% today after the company announced the pricing of its public offering of 5.51 million shares at $6.35 per share. Moreover, the offering allows underwriters, via an overallotment option, to issue an additional 826,771 shares. The company, which specializes in contraceptive products, plans to use the funds for general purposes as it continues to develop its product candidates.

Out of the 730 funds that we track, nine funds held shares of Agile Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:AGRX) on September 30, amassing 27.9% of the float, down slightly from 10 funds on June 30. Dennis Purcell‘s Aisling Capital was the largest shareholder of Agile Therapeutics in our system, owning 2.98 million shares valued at $20.11 million at the end of September.

Spectranetics Corp (NASDAQ:SPNC)’s shares are down by around 8% today. Although there is no particular news behind the move, the company continues its downward trend since the start of the year, and is close to its 52-week low. Among the funds we follow, 24 reported long positions in Spectranetics Corp (NASDAQ:SPNC) as of the end of September, up by two funds from a quarter earlier. Jacob Gottlieb‘s Visium Asset Management reported holding a $23.0 million position in the stock as of that time, comprising 0.31% of its 13F portfolio.

LDR Holding Corp (NASDAQ:LDRH) is another company that is losing ground today, down by over 11%. This time around, investors are selling because analysts at Wells Fargo downgraded the medical device company to ‘Market Perform’ from ‘Outperform’. LDR Holding announced yesterday that it has made a minority investment in France’s Poly-Shape SAS which will lead to the development of spinal implants.

LDR Holding Corp (NASDAQ:LDRH) also lost popularity among the investors that we track in the third quarter. 11 funds held shares of the company on September 30, down by three funds over the quarter, and they amassed 10.9% of the float. Among them, Donald Chiboucis‘ Columbus Circle Investors was the largest shareholder, reporting ownership of 1.12 million shares in its latest 13F filing.

Finally, also among the big losers today is Tutor Perini Corp (NYSE:TPC). The stock is down by over 14% after the company announced (based on preliminary information) that its fiscal year 2015 GAAP earnings will be below its previous guidance, while revenue will be at the low end of that guidance. The first metric will range between $0.85 to $0.90, with expected revenue to reach $5 billion. The company previously guided for GAAP diluted EPS of between $1.90 and $2.10, while projected revenue was in the range of $5.0 to $5.5 billion. The updated guidance also falls below the Street’s consensus estimate of $1.59 in EPS and $5.11 billion in revenue. Furthermore, Tutor Perini announced its preliminary guidance for fiscal year 2016. The firm expects revenue to be in the range of $5.1 billion and $5.6 billion, while diluted EPS is expected to be $1.90-to-$2.00.

During the third quarter, Tutor Perini Corp (NYSE:TPC) also suffered a decrease in popularity among the funds that we track, with 16 investors holding long positions at the end of September, versus 19 funds at the end of June. William Harnisch‘s Peconic Partners LLC was the largest shareholder among those, holding 935,837 shares valued at $15.4 million at the end of September.

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