Afternoon Pulse: Energy Stocks & Budget-Friendly Picks

Stocks faced a pullback on Friday, weighed down by disappointing consumer sentiment data and a drop in UnitedHealth stock, adding to the pressure in what has been a challenging week for Wall Street.

As of 11:27 AM ET, the Dow was down -368.9 points, or -0.83506%, at $43807.75. The Nasdaq Composite lost -141.517 points, or -0.64128%, at $21926.54. The S&P 500 declined -34.31 points, or -0.56085%, at $6083.21. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 8 showed negative movement, with Utilities leading the way with a 5.2% decrease.

A mix of factors contributed to the market’s decline, including Walmart’s 6.5% drop, persistent inflation concerns, and a slide in Palantir shares.

For the week, the S&P 500 is slightly lower, while the Dow and Nasdaq have posted losses of 1.4% and 0.2%, respectively.

Top Movers: Under $10

Nuburu Inc (BURU) is up 129.39% today to trade at the current level of $0.46. This comes after the company announced its entry into a commitment letter aimed at expanding its current defense business and establishing a new presence in the security sector.

NKGen Biotech Inc (NKGN) zoomed 39.26% in today’s trade to $0.62 after announcing the administration of troculeucel, an expanded autologous NK cell therapy, in an FTD patient under a single compassionate use, Investigational New Drug cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

In current trading, Naas Technology Inc ADR (NAAS) stock is at $1.96 after announcing US$10 million share repurchase program.

SINTX Technologies Inc (SINT) rose 30.42% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $6.26 after announcing the sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Technology Assessment and Transfer (TA&T), to Tethon Corporation DBA Tethon 3D.

In the current trading session, Firefly Neuroscience Inc (AIFF) jumped 16.39% to $8.38 over a previous close of $7.20 after announcing exercise of warrants for total proceeds of $8.8 million.

Ex-Dividends Stocks

Brunswick Corp (BC) is about to trade ex-dividend Monday, meaning that investors who buy the stock after tomorrow will not be eligible for the next dividend payment. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.43 per share. It has fixed February 24 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on March 14. Last year, the company distributed a total of $1.68 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, BC has a trailing yield of 2.63% on the current stock price of $63.87.

Shares of International Paper Co (IP) 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 $0.46 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $1.85 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that IP has a trailing yield of 3.32% on the current share price of $55.77.

Iradimed Corp (IRMD) is also set to go ex-dividend on Monday. The next dividend payment from IRMD will amount to $0.17 per share. February 24 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for March 05. In the previous year, IRMD distributed a total of $0.45 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for IRMD stands at 0.80% based on the current stock price of $56.56.

KLA Corp (KLAC) will be paying out a dividend of $1.7 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of February 24. Over the past 12 months, KLAC has paid out a total of $6.05 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, KLAC boasts an impressive trailing yield of 0.79% on the current share price of $767.65.

Crypto Market Highlights

• Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has been hacked for over $1.4 billion in liquid-staked Ether and MegaETH (mETH), according to on-chain security analyst ZackXBT.

• BNB Chain is preparing for its Pascal hard fork, with the mainnet deployment set for mid-March 2025 and the testnet fork scheduled for February.

• Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is reportedly considering launching its own stablecoin as European regulations push crypto firms to delist Tether’s USDt.

• The US Securities and Exchange Commission has agreed to dismiss its lawsuit against Coinbase, which had accused the company of operating as an unregistered securities broker.

• South African investment firm Altvest Capital has announced its first Bitcoin investment, marking its entry into the crypto space.

Most Shorted Stocks

Viking Therapeutics Inc (VKTX) was one of the most shorted stocks as of latest short interest figures, with 21.47% 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 5.9. This represents a change of 3730000 shares, which corresponds to a +18.47% increase in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $772.94 million. The average daily volume stands at 3.83M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $3.60B.

The ASP Isotopes Inc with the symbol ASPI currently has a short interest of 28.20%. The short interest has changed by 7810000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 4.0. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $77.72 million. On an average day, 3.37M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $362.66M.

For the stock AST SpaceMobile Inc (ASTS), the current short interest is at 28.63%. This represents a significant short interest change of 9890000 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage increase of +30.11%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 4.2. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $1.28 billion.

With the symbol IOVA, the stock currently has a short interest of 26.04%. The short interest change is 1930000 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of +3.11%. It would take approximately 7.8 days to cover all the short positions. The shares short value is estimated to be around $253.45 million. The company boasts an average daily volume of 7.36M shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $1.81B.

The stock YOU has a current short interest of 23.74%. The short interest percentage has experienced an increase of +22.26% while there was a change of 3590000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 9.7. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $1.54 billion. Trading activity averages at 1.75M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $3.36B.

Energy Stocks to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, Mexco Energy Corp (MXC) emerges as a high-quality stock in the Energy industry, attaining an impressive score of 63. The stock's profitability, financial strength, and Piotroski Score are strong. Additionally, it is neutral in terms of performance, growth, stock sentiment, and forecast.

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

Another stock in the category, Hess Corporation (HES) has the ST Score of 61, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in profitability, performance, financial strength, and Piotroski Score. Growth, stock sentiment, and forecast suggest a neutral outlook.

Alliance Resource Partners, LP (ARLP) stock has the ST Score of 60 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. However, it shows neutral outlook in growth, stock sentiment, and forecast.

Epsilon Energy Ltd (EPSN) currently has the ST Score of 60, which signifies a huge upward potential. The Energy stock's strong points are its performance, financial strength, and Piotroski Score, while its weak points are its growth. The stock's profitability, 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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