Afternoon Boost: Top Energy Stocks & $10 Growth Leaders

Good Evening Traders!

U.S. stocks fell on Friday, with the S&P 500 continuing its downward trend since late February, weighed down by trade policy concerns, recession fears, and a pullback in megacap technology shares.

Traders were bracing for a potentially volatile session due to "quadruple witching," when stock options, index futures, index options, and single-stock futures all expire. Goldman Sachs estimates that over $4.7 trillion of notional options exposure will expire.

As of 11:24 AM ET, the Dow was down -244.24 points, or -0.58217%, at $41709.08. The Nasdaq Composite lost -153.23 points, or -0.7787%, at $19524.38. The S&P 500 declined -40.01 points, or -0.70653%, at $5622.88. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 7 showed positive movement, with Communication Services leading the way with a 1.61% increase.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump's April 2 tariff deadline continues to loom over the market, with tariff concerns adding to the pressure on companies, according to Michael Green, chief strategist at Simplify Asset Management.

Top Movers: Under $10

Allurion Technologies Inc (ALUR) is up 39.91% today to trade at the current level of $3.19. This comes after the company announced initial results on the combination of the Allurion program with low-dose GLP-1 therapy to optimize muscle mass and GLP-1 adherence.

VivoPower International PLC (VVPR) zoomed 32.00% in today’s trade to $1.12 after announcing that its subsidiary is working closely with CCTS (“Cactus Acquisition Corp. 1 Limited”), a Cayman Islands exempted special purpose acquisition company to progress towards a closing of the Business Combination by Q2, calendar 2025.

In current trading, American Resources Corporation (AREC) stock is at $0.53 after announcing the successfully scale-up of SEG+ ore concentrate refining.

Terns Pharmaceuticals Inc (TERN) rose 17.36% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $3.68 after reporting fourth quarter and full year 2024 financial results and corporate updates.

In the current trading session, Patriot National Bancorp Inc (PNBK) jumped 7.55% to $1.14 over a previous close of $1.06 after announcing over $50 million private placement.

Ex-Dividends Stocks

Dynex Capital, Inc (DX) is about to trade ex-dividend Monday, meaning that investors who buy the stock after Monday will not be eligible for the next dividend payment. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.17 per share. It has fixed March 24 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on April 01. Last year, the company distributed a total of $1.64 to its shareholders. Based on last year's payments, DX has a trailing yield of 11.68%, and the current stock price is $14.05.

Shares of Johnson Controls International plc (JCI) will be the talk of the stock market on Monday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.37 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $1.48 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that JCI has a trailing yield of 1.81% on the current share price of $81.85.

Portland General Electric Co (POR) is also set to go ex-dividend on Monday. The next dividend payment from POR will amount to $0.5 per share. March 24 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for April 15. In the previous year, POR distributed a total of $1.98 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for POR stands at 4.50% based on the current stock price of $43.90.

Redwood Trust Inc (RWT) will be paying out a dividend of $0.18 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of March 24. Over the past 12 months, RWT has paid out a total of $0.33 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, RWT boasts an impressive trailing yield of 5.14% on the current share price of $6.34.

Crypto Market Highlights

• South Korean authorities are investigating crypto exchange platforms that may not be compliant with the country's financial regulations.

• Speculative interest in crypto markets is fading as investors shift toward safer digital asset investments amid memecoin scams and macroeconomic concerns.

• Australia’s center-left Labor Party proposes new crypto regulations for exchanges under existing financial services laws, with a focus on addressing debanking issues.

• The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has pledged support for Ethereum's ERC-3643 standard for permissioned securities tokens.

• Pump.fun has launched PumpSwap, a decentralized exchange (DEX) that may challenge Raydium as the main platform for Solana meme-coins.

 Most Shorted Stocks

Sphere Entertainment Co (SPHR) was one of the most shorted stocks as of the latest short interest figures, with 30.01% short interest. The days to cover ratio, a measure of how long it would take for all the short positions to be covered based on average trading volume, is 10.2. This represents a change of -50000 shares, which corresponds to a -0.61% decrease in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $259.81 million. The average daily volume stands at 803.71K shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $1.14B.

The HighPeak Energy Inc with the symbol HPK currently has a short interest of 29.70%. The short interest has changed by 1270000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 20.9. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $68.96 million. On an average day, 264.59K shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $1.57B.

For the stock Lemonade Inc (LMND), the current short interest is at 30.08%. This represents a significant short interest change of -1010000 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage decrease of -5.86%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 7.0. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $568.4 million.

With the symbol LAZR, the stock currently has a short interest of 29.61%. The short interest change is 290000 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of +3.95%. It would take approximately 3.2 days to cover all the short positions. The shares short value is estimated to be around $119.2 million. The company boasts an average daily volume of 2.42M shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $244.39M.

The stock OPK has a current short interest of 29.47%. The short interest percentage has experienced an increase of +0.95% while there was a change of 840000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 18.9. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $13.75 million. Trading activity averages at 4.73M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $1.21B.

Energy Stocks to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, Hess Midstream LP (HESM) emerges as a high-quality stock in the Energy industry, attaining an impressive score of 64. The stock's profitability, performance, growth, and Piotroski Score are strong. Additionally, it is neutral in terms of financial strength, stock sentiment, and forecast.

Our ST Score also classifies DHT Holdings Inc (DHT) as a high-quality Energy stock today, presenting a Score of 62. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of profitability, performance, growth, financial strength, and Piotroski Score. The stock sentiment, and forecast are neutral.

Another stock in the category, Torm Plc (TRMD) has the ST Score of 62, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in profitability, performance, financial strength, and Piotroski Score but weak in growth. Stock sentiment, and forecast suggest a neutral outlook.

Black Stone Minerals L.P (BSM) stock has the ST Score of 61 which implies that the Energy company has a high probability of beating the market. The stock's strengths lie in its profitability, performance, financial strength, and Piotroski Score, but its weaknesses are in its growth. However, it shows a neutral outlook in stock sentiment, and forecast.

International Seaways Inc (INSW) currently has the ST Score of 61, which signifies a huge upward potential. The Energy stock's strong points are its profitability, financial strength, and Piotroski Score, while its weak points are its performance. The stock's growth, stock sentiment, and forecast indicate a neutral outlook.

That's it for today. Thanks for reading. Good luck out there!

Best Regards,

Stocks Telegraph Team

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