Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) saw a gain of 18.7% in short interest as of for the two weeks ended April 30th. More than 6.6 million shares were added to short interest and 20% of the company’s float is now short. The coal miner’s poor earnings and forecast are to blame.

Short interest in Exco Resources Inc. (NYSE: XCO) rose nearly 12% to more than 33.5 million shares, or 19.3% of the company’s float. The oil & gas driller missed revenue expectations, although it did post a profit. Revenue is more important now however.

Among the largest overall short positions, SandRidge Energy Co. (NYSE: SD) got short interest on 49.5 million shares, nearly 12% of its float and up 6.7% from the previous reporting period. Shares are down more than -33% in the past 12 months, and the small spikes don’t affect short sellers here. The long-term outlook for natural gas continues to call for weak pricing.

E&P company Forest Oil Co. (NYSE: FST) was another recipient of more short interest in late April. Short sellers added about 3 million shares, a 24.7% increase and enough to put nearly 13% of the company’s float short.

Even Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) didn’t escape. Short sellers added 7.7 million shares to their positions, a 31.8% change to 32 million shares, but still less than 1% of Exxon’s shorts.

The final energy company we’ll look at here is Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK), where 5.8 million additional shares were added to short positions, bringing total shorts to just over 79 million shares. That’s an addition of 8% and represents 5.9% of Duke’s float. It’s odd to see a utility on this list.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD)saw short interest in its share rise by 6.5% to more than 70 million shares or 11.9% of the company’s float. AMD continues to suffer from lower-than-expected earnings and revenues.

Short interest in Sanofi (NYSE: SNY) jumped 265% to more 13.4 million shares. While still only about 0.5% of the company’s float, but generic drug sales are hurting the company as is a weak economy in Europe. Neither condition is expected to improve soon either.

Short interest in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) also rose sharply, buy 21.4% to reach a total of 63.6 million shares, about 0.8% of the company’s float. Like Sanofi, competition from generics hurts. The company also said it will reduce marketing expenditures on its Lipitor drug.

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) gets the honor for being the equity with the largest number of short shares, 195 million, which represents 5.2% of the company’s float. The good news is that short interest fell by more than 32 million shares, also the largest change.

More than 75% of Barnes & Noble Inc.’s (NYSE: BKS) float is short, about 19.8 million shares. Short interest in the company grew by just 700,000 shares since mid-April.

Short interest holds more than 42% of grocer SuperValue Inc.’s (NYSE: SVU) shares with a total of 88.5 million shares short, up slightly from two weeks ago.

Short interest in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI) actually fell slightly , but the company’s total of 50.5 million shares short represents 25.3% of the float and 22 days to cover.

Short interest in for-profit educator DeVry Inc. (NYSE: DV) jumped 123.2% to 3.7 million shares or 6.3% of the company’s float. Another education company, Bridgepoint Education Inc. (NYSE: BPI) posts short interest of more than 9.7 million shares, or 56% of its float.

Paul Ausick

Read the 100 Best Small Companies in America

The initial list based on the universe of public corporations with less than $1 billion in revenue. These companies are among the best for their size because they have increased revenue over the period covered by our analysis. Their relatively small sizes and robust sales expansion rates also makes it likely many will continue to grow even further, if the record of public company expansion is any example.  Past growth does not mean all of these firms will prosper, but most on this list have been consistently profitable, which adds to the chances of future progress.

Small companies, our research shows, usually have one or two specialized divisions and are focused on one core market. For instance, Steve Madden, True Religion and rue 21 have all carved out a niche segment in the apparel and footwear market. Their lack of diversity could be a drawback because the companies rely completely on one set of products, but it can also mean that management can be laser focused on a single opportunity.

Another industry which is well represented on this list is niche healthcare. Once again, most of the firms in this sector which made the list are in only one business. Mesa Labs makes manufacturing quality control products for medical devices. It is a narrow market, and there is no guarantee that a large device manufacturer might not attack the same sector. Bio-Reference Laboratories provides testing services. Cantel Medical provides infection prevention and control devices. This infection prevention business appears to be a relatively small one, but the overall medical industry in the US is expanding at such a rapid rate and regulations are changing so quickly that some of these companies will prosper because of these changes. Given the state of American healthcare costs, not many people would be surprised to see healthcare firms on a list of fast growing companies

These corporations are also often willing to take calculated risks, in some case, as they strive to expand their bases. Retailers are a good example.  Steve Madden, one of our companies, was started in 1990 with $1,100. The company has consistently added lines of apparel since then to increase revenue

Another reason to create this list is that 24/7 Wall St. recognizes that smaller companies continue to be a backbone of job growth. Corporations that are highly successful are roadmaps for the sort of industries, managements, and products and services which have done well recently. As recent access to capital has improved compared with access during the recession, well targeted and well run smaller businesses stand a much better chance of doing extremely well because they can tap pools of funding.   Methodology: We ranked these companies largely based on their growth rates as well as on how they have performed financially in the recent past. The pace of these growth rates allowed us to make a final selection and rank the companies when growth was combined with eight other categories. The 100 companies on our list had a median 20% sales growth and 30% earnings per share growth over the last 12 months. Similarly, the median stock price return for the latest year for this group was 16%, which is double the return of the S&P 500 index over the same time.

While stock market performance is one of our ranking criteria, we did not remove companies for poor performance because smaller companies tend to have greater price swings than the overall market. We should point out that this is not an investment list for value seekers. Maintaining these lofty growth rates is not an easy task.

S&P Capital IQ  provided us with corporate information, financial data and rankings based on a series of metrics. We started with a universe of 1,200 publicly traded, small companies, which we defined as having between $5 million and $1 billion in revenue over the last 12 months. To narrow this group down, we required that sales growth, earnings per share growth and return on equity to be greater than zero for both the latest 12 months and over the companies’ last five fiscal years. We also excluded companies whose stock price is lower than $5.This brought the size of the list to 164

The criteria we used to allow us to winnow the list to  100 companies  based on a few items which included stock price. We then assigned a rank based on all of the above growth metrics and stock price returns over one and five years. For companies whose shares were not traded for five years, we used annualized figures from their first trade date. From these category rankings, each company was given an overall score that was used to produce the list.

Brian Zajac

The financial data below is from the latest available reporting period and price change is as of March 21, 2012.

The ten companies we have looked at are Apollo Group (NASDAQ: APOL), Education Management (NASDAQ: EDMC), American Public Education (NASDAQ: APEI), Strayhorn Education (NASDAQ: STRA), DeVry (NYSE: DV), Washington Post (NYSE: WPO), Corinthian Colleges (NASDAQ: COCO), Bridgeport Education (NYSE: BPI), Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ: LOPE), and Career Education (NASDAQ: CECO).

All data is from Yahoo! Finance, and current share prices were gathered in the mid-afternoon today.

Apollo Group has a median target price of $53.00 from 15 brokers. Shares are trading today at $46.09, for an implied gain of $6.91, or 15%. Apollo’s forward P/E is 12.72 and the company does not pay a dividend. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $33.75 to $54.23, and at today’s price that is about 37% above its 52-week low and 15% below the 52-week high. The company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings a couple of weeks ago and jumped more than 10% in a day. But lower enrollments plague the company, which has managed to keep revenue up by raising tuition and fees.

Education Management has a median target price of $20.00 from 11 brokers. Shares are trading today at $20.48, about 0.5% above the target price. Education Management’s forward P/E is 13.36 and the company does not pay a dividend. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $11.56 to $28.61. At today’s price it is about 77% above its 52-week low and 28% below the 52-week high. The company beat both quarterly EPS and revenue estimates when it reported earnings last week. But a warning on future enrollment and profit declines have cooled enthusiasm for the shares.

American Public Education has a median target price of $45.00 from 10 brokers. Shares are trading today at $35.11, for an implied gain of $9.89, or 28%. APEI’s forward P/E is 14.50 and the company does not pay a dividend. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $26.15 to $49.29, and at today’s price that is about 49% above its 52-week low and 26% below the 52-week high. The company reports earnings next week and is expected to post EPS of $0.42 on revenue of $62 million. The EPS figure is less than the June quarter, but better than the same period a year ago.

Strayhorn Education has a median target price of $104.00 from 12 brokers. Shares are trading today at $83.06, for an implied gain of $20.94, or 25%. Strayhorn’s forward P/E is 11.39 and the company pays a dividend yield of 4.6%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $69.34 to $165.73 Today’s price is about 29% above its 52-week low and 50% below the 52-week high. The company reports earnings on Thursday and is expected to post EPS of $1.07 on $139 million in revenue. That is a big dip from the same quarter a year ago, when EPS came in at $1.72, and an even bigger dip sequentially, from $2.53 in the June quarter.

DeVry has a median target price of $52.50 from 16 brokers. Shares are trading today at $38.14, for an implied gain of $14.36, or 38%. DeVry’s forward P/E is 8.55 and the company pays a dividend yield of 0.6%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $34.24 to $66.85, and at today’s price that is about 11% above its 52-week low and 43% below the 52-week high. The company missed both EPS and revenue projections last week when it reported its first fiscal-quarter 2012 results. Enrollment was also lower as bleak job prospects keep potential students away.

Washington Post has a median target price of $275.00 from just a single broker. Shares are trading today at $336.80, about 18% above the target price. The forward P/E is 19.44 and the company pays a dividend yield of 2.6%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $308.50 to $455.68. Today’s price is about 9% above its 52-week low and 26% below the 52-week high. The Kaplan education division of the company contributes more than 50% of Washington Post’s revenues and nearly half of net income. The company is expected to post EPS of $3.85 on revenue of $1 billion this Friday. The lack of coverage makes this stock a tough one to figure out.

Corinthian Colleges has a median target price of $2.00 from 10 brokers. Shares are trading today at $2.04, fractionally above the target price. Corinthian’s forward P/E is 9.93 and the company does not pay a dividend. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $1.24 to $6.12, and at today’s price that is about 65% above its 52-week low and 67% below the 52-week high.

Bridgeport Education has a median target price of $26.00 from 10 brokers. Shares are trading today at $22.94, for an implied gain of $3.06, or 13%. Bridgeport’s forward P/E is 8.88 and the company does not pay a dividend. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $13.89 to $30.62, and at today’s price that is about 65% above its 52-week low and 25% below the 52-week high. The company posted better-than-expected third-quarter earnings this morning and raised full-year EPS guidance to $2.95 to $2.98. Enrollment is expected to fall by about 5,000-8,000 students by the end of December.

Grand Canyon Education has a median target price of $18.50 from 10 brokers. Shares are trading today at $15.97, for an implied gain of $2.53, or 16%. Grand Canyon’s forward P/E is 13.22 and the company does not pay a dividend. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $12.26 to $20.66, and at today’s price that is about 30% above its 52-week low and 35% below the 52-week high. The company reports third-quarter earnings next week and is expected to post EPS 0f $0.25 on $109 million in revenues.

Career Education has a median target price of $20 from 11 brokers. Shares are trading today at $15.79, for an implied gain of $4.21, or 27%. The forward P/E is 8.77 and the company does not pay a dividend. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $12.24 to $27.60, and at today’s price that is about 29% above its 52-week low and 43% below the 52-week high. The company reports third-quarter earnings next week, and the consensus EPS estimate is $0.34 on $457 million in revenue. The EPS estimate has been trimmed from $0.46 over the past three months. Shares gained nearly 5% on October 19th, following the strong earnings report from Apollo.

Paul Ausick

The NASDAQ stocks which fit this bill are as follows: Cadence Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: CADX); Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND); Tesla Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA); Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (NASDAQ: OMEX); Pacer International, Inc. (NASDAQ: PACR); MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ: MNKD); Wave Systems Corporation (NASDAQ: WAVX); Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER); NutriSystem Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRI); and Zix Corporation (NASDAQ: ZIXI). 

The NYSE stocks which fit this bill, except for one, are as follows: Mindray Medical International (NYSE: MR); Sealy Corporation (NYSE: ZZ); Rogers Communication, Inc. (NYSE: RCI); The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI); HHGregg, Inc. (NYSE: HGG); American Greetings Corporation (NYSE: AM); Bridgepoint Education, Inc. (NYSE: BPI); and Life Time Fitness (NYSE: LTM). 

We only looked at companies with an average volume of more than 250,000 shares and have added some loose color on these if applicable.

What makes matters more harsh is that this is not for a large acquisition, nor to pay off debt.  These shares are simply being made available for sale by Warburg Pincus Private Equity VIII, L.P.   None of the shares are being sold by the company.  This represents a massive overhang on the real public float.

Warburg Pincus and its approved entities will be free to offer these shares from time to time through public or private transactions “at prevailing market prices, at prices related to prevailing market prices or at privately negotiated prices.”

What is interesting is that the filing showed that this is not a dilution of shares of common stock currently outstanding.  Technically that is true.  What this does though is to greatly expand the free float that can be bought and sold in the public markets after Warburg Pincus locks in the sales.

Shares closed at $30.50 on Friday and the stock is indicated down a sharp 8.9% at $27.80 against a 52-week range of $12.75 to $30.62.  The average volume is only about 650,000 shares and that recent high is also an all-time high since this came public in 2009.

JON C. OGG

Many events are ongoing and some are carryover events to consider, and we have added color on each if applicable.  On a separate note, we did compile what is a detailed preview of the top earnings this coming week as well as the top ten analyst calls of this last week.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE: AMD) was one of the top gainers on Friday after it reported positive earnings.  The 19%+ gain to $7.75 puts it back in the middle of its 52-week trading range of $5.53 to $9.58. The 85+ million shares traded appears to be the biggest one-day share volume back to November of 2009.  Forbes is calling for a run to $10 even with its CEO overhang issues.

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE: BKU) has been public for just about six-months and its IPO lock-up period from insiders and 10% owners is set to end this week. At $25.61, its post-IPO range is $24.88 to $29.90.

Books-A-Million Inc. (NASDAQ: BAMM) may have thin trading volume and may only be worth $53 million in market capitalization, but we believe that this small cap offers a stealthy road to winning from the Borders bankruptcy liquidation.  We featured this as the stealth winner, and for some reason the shares were up 10% on Friday ahead of a Bizjournals.com report that the company submitted bids for 30 of the Borders locations.

Bridgepoint Education, Inc. (NYSE: BPI) took it on the chin after the close on Friday with a drop of about 6%. The company filed with the SEC to register the resale of 34,589,220 shares of common stock held by Warburg Pincus Private Equity VIII, L.P.  The company has about $1.6 billion in market cap, but at the $30.50 price that comes to a combined share sale of $1.037 billion before the effects of the sell-off.  Can you say dilution to the free float?

CA Inc. (NASDAQ: CA) is slated to have an investor meeting this coming Friday.  With shares trading around $22.60, let’s just go even deeper on record noting that this one has been dead money for about 7 years or so whether it has a $11.5 billion market cap or not.

Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE: CLH) is set to trade ex-split on July 27 to reflect its 2-for-1 split.  The stock trades north of $112 and shares hit a high of $114.09 on this last Thursday.  This stock is up about 50-fold in the last ten years and it looks like it is the first split for the $3 billion environmental remediation outfit.

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. (NASDAQ: DWA) is in discussions over a streaming movie video rights deal with Netflix.  The move could open up its distribution even more and at $21.05 it is at the bottom of a 52-week range of $19.76 to $37.74.

BHP Billiton (BHP) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Bridgepoint Education (BPI) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
ConAgra (CAG) Raised to Buy at UBS.
ConocoPhillips (COP) Raised to Outperform at Bernstein.
E*TRADE (ETFC) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
FedEx (FDX) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Marvell Technology (MRVL) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Rio Tinto (RTP) Raised to Buy at ING.
Sonic (SONC) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Starbucks (SBUX) Raised to Outperform at Baird.

Jon C. Ogg
June 23, 2009

Bridgepoint Education Inc. (NYSE: BPI) is being added to Russell 3000 and to the Russell Global.  DigitalGlobal Inc. (NYSE: DGI) is actually trading as a busted IPO and it is being added to Russell 3000 and to the Russell Global.  OpenTable (NASDAQ: OPEN) is being added to Russell 3000 and to the Russell Global.  Rosetta Stone Inc. (NYSE: RST) is being added to Russell 3000 and to the Russell Global.  RHI Entertainment (NASDAQ: RHIE) was a distant IPO but it is being added to Russell 3000 and to the Russell Global.  SolarWinds Inc. (NYSE: SWI) is a very fresh IPO and is being added to Russell 3000 and to the Russell Global.  There is also a list of other key IPOs which were not included for certain issues.

Changyou.com Limited (NASDAQ: CYOU) was not listed in the first preliminary list for the Russell 3000 but that could be from an ADR status, the percentage of the free float to total shares, and the recent spin-off.  Grand Canyon Education (NASDAQ: LOPE) was not listed on the preliminary list, and that may be a free float issue versus total shares.  Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. (NYSE: MJN) was also not on the Russell 3000 preliminary list, but that may be an issue over the total float and spin-off. RackSpace Hosting Inc. (NYSE: RAX) was not on the initial list.

As noted with the speculative energy stocks getting booted off the list, there will be changes and adjustments announced today and next Friday before the final-final lists are posted on Monday June 29, 2009.

Jon C. Ogg
June 19, 2009

• Changyou.com Limited (NASDAQ: CYOU) priced at $16.00 and hit $29.00 today.
• Rosetta Stone Inc. (NYSE: RST) priced at $18.00 and hit $23.80 today.
• Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. (NYSE: MJN) priced at $24.00 and hit    $28.80 today.
• DigitalGlobal Inc. (NYSE: DGI) just last week priced at $19.00 and hit $19.75 today.
• Bridgepoint Education Inc. (NYSE: BPI) is only busted IPO that priced at $10.50    and is trading at $10.29 today.

We tallied up a $10,000 investment in each of these at the pricing to derive what a portfolio would look like from the pricing.  This is only 5 stocks, but this is all we have to work with from 2009 IPOs.  So a $50,000 investment in all of the 2009 IPO’s would be worth $63,541.00 today (pennies rounded down).  That is a gain of 27% on average.

Obviously, it is not fair to say that this portfolio would have netted out secondary market investors the same as many trad up from the IPO pricing.  But this is what drives IPO investors in their decision making, and this may be what gets the investment bankers and private companies off the fence to start issuing more and more IPO’s if the market remains strong or stable.

JON C. OGG
May 18, 2009