Investors Are Buzzing About These 5 Stocks Today

At a time when the broader market is off by nearly 1% and crude prices are 2% lower on the back of continuing worries over slower global growth, Sunedison Inc (NYSE:SUNE), Crestwood Equity Partners LP (NYSE:CEQP), Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ADR) (NYSE:ASX), BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust (NYSE:BPT), and Silicon Motion Technology Corp. (ADR) (NASDAQ:SIMO) are each on the move. Let’s analyze why these stocks have the attention of investors today and dig into SEC filings to see what hedge funds think about each stock.

Our research has shown that the best strategy is to follow hedge funds into their small-cap picks. This approach can allow monthly returns of nearly 95 basis points above the market, as we determined through extensive backtests covering the period between 1999 and 2012 (see the details here).

Leading off, Sunedison Inc (NYSE:SUNE) shares are 12% higher than yesterday’s close, seemingly on nothing but continued volatility. Shares of the renewable energy developer have gone on a roller-coaster ride over the past week on news that the company might declare bankruptcy because of its liquidity and debt problems. Given the low prices and the fact that 38% of the float is short, some shorts are likely covering and taking profits while daytraders accentuate the intra-day swings. According to SEC filings, 50 elite funds in our system held shares of Sunedison Inc (NYSE:SUNE) at the end of the fourth quarter, down from 73 at the end of the previous quarter.

Crestwood Equity Partners LP (NYSE:CEQP) is 6% in the green due to rallying natural gas spot prices and the news that it has won a 10-year gas gathering and processing contract from BlueStone Natural Resources II, LLC in the Barnett Shale. Although the financial terms of the contract were not disclosed, Crestwood “will provide services to BlueStone for a period of 10 years under a fixed-fee and percent of proceeds fee structure”. Six elite funds that we track held shares of Crestwood Equity Partners LP (NYSE:CEQP) at the end of 2015.

On the next page, we examine why Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ADR), BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust, and Silicon Motion Technology Corp (ADR) are making waves today.

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ADR) (NYSE:ASX) has fallen by about 2.5% so far this Thursday after the company released its unaudited consolidated net revenue for March and the first quarter of 2016. According to the numbers, the company’s first quarter revenue fell by 3.5% year-over-year to 62.37 billion New Taiwan dollars ($1.92 billion), which nonetheless topped revenue expectations of 61.46 billion New Taiwan dollars ($1.9 billion). The company’s March revenue grew by 5.5% year-over-year. Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management was among the ten elite shareholders in our database long Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ADR) (NYSE:ASX) at the end of December. Fisher Asset Management raised its stake by 6% to over 17.4 million shares during the fourth quarter.

BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust (NYSE:BPT) is a victim of falling crude prices today, as its shares are off by more than 12%. Low oil prices have weighed heavily on the trust’s payouts, with the trust releasing a regulatory filing in late February showing that it expects to stop paying royalties after 2020 at current crude prices. Here’s the trust’s statement:

“Based on the 2015 twelve-month average WTI Price of $50.28 per barrel, current Production Taxes, and the Chargeable Costs adjusted as prescribed by the Overriding Royalty Conveyance, it is estimated that royalty payments to the Trust will continue through the year 2020, and would be zero in the following year. Therefore, no proved reserves are currently attributed to the BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust after that date. Even if expected reservoir performance does not change, the estimated reserves, economic life and future net revenues attributable to the Trust may change significantly in the future. This may result from sustained periods of change in the WTI Price, the Production Tax or from changes in other prescribed variables utilized in calculations as defined by the Overriding Royalty Conveyance.”

On March 7, the Alaska Disptach News also reported that BP Prudhoe will cut the number of rigs drilling in Prudhoe Bay to two from five. Five investors tracked by Insider Monkey held roughly 1.3% of BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust (NYSE:BPT)’s float as of December 31.

In more positive news, Silicon Motion Technology Corp. (ADR) (NASDAQ:SIMO) shares have rallied by 3.3% in late morning trading after the company offered better-than-expected first quarter revenue guidance. For the period, Silicon Motion expects sequential sales growth of 14%-to-25%, versus the negative 2.5%-to-positive 2.5% growth management indicated previously. The company also expects its gross margin to come in at the upper half of the previous guidance of 49%-to-51%. The smart money was fairly bullish on Silicon Motion Technology Corp. (ADR) (NASDAQ:SIMO) in the fourth quarter, with 24 elite funds owning $132.26 million worth of shares at the end of December, up from 20 funds owning $113.3 million in shares at the end of September.

Disclosure: None