Investing in small-cap materials stocks can be tricky. The direction of the broader economy often plays a big role in their success, and notoriously unpredictable factors like mining output or commodity prices can often be key to maintaining margins. But equities.com's Small-Cap Stars, our proprietary list of those small-cap companies with metrics that are typically the most indicative of future success, gives investors a way to identify those companies that are best-positioned to ride out the tough times and make major gains in the good times.
Here's a look at the five top-performing basic materials Small-Cap Stars:
Profire Energy Inc (PFIE)
Profire Energy Inc gained 11.14% to $4.09. The gains came on a volume of 1,087,640 shares against an average daily volume of 312,384 shares. Profire Energy Inc has had a trading range from $5.89 to $1.55 over the last year, its P/E ratio is 28.6, it has a 50-day SMA of $4.29, and a 200-day SMA of $3.89.
Profire Energy Inc is engaged in the business of developing combustion management technologies for the oil and gas industry. It manufactures, installs and services oilfield combustion management technologies and related products.
Eagle Rock Energy Partners Lp Unit Ltd Partnership Int (EROC)
Eagle Rock Energy Partners Lp Unit Ltd Partnership Int gained 2.61% to $4.33. The gains came on a volume of 402,531 shares against an average daily volume of 590,656 shares. Eagle Rock Energy Partners Lp Unit Ltd Partnership Int has had a trading range from $7.88 to $3.97 over the last year, it has a 50-day SMA of $4.69, and a 200-day SMA of $5.06.
Eagle Rock Energy Partners, L.P. is engaged in gathering, compressing, processing & transporting natural gas; acquiring, developing & producing interests in oil & natural gas properties.
Senomyx Inc. (SNMX)
Senomyx Inc. gained 2.3% to $7.56. The gains came on a volume of 213,282 shares against an average daily volume of 456,775 shares. Senomyx Inc. has had a trading range from $12.74 to $2.95 over the last year, it has a 50-day SMA of $7.94, and a 200-day SMA of $7.31.
Senomyx Inc discovers, develops and commercializes flavor ingredients for the packaged food, beverage and ingredient supply industries by including savory and cooling flavors and flavor modulators, such as sweet and salt modifiers and bitter blockers.
Insteel Industries Inc. (IIIN)
Insteel Industries Inc. gained 1.99% to $21.00. The gains came on a volume of 39,041 shares against an average daily volume of 42,028 shares. Insteel Industries Inc. has had a trading range from $24.26 to $15.18 over the last year, its P/E ratio is 26.5, it has a 50-day SMA of $19.77, and a 200-day SMA of $19.57.
Insteel Industries, Inc., manufactures and markets PC strand and welded wire reinforcement products, including concrete pipe reinforcement, engineered structural mesh and standard welded wire reinforcement.
Lehigh Gas Partners Lp (LGP)
Lehigh Gas Partners Lp gained 1.68% to $35.35. The gains came on a volume of 59,819 shares against an average daily volume of 88,087 shares. Lehigh Gas Partners Lp has had a trading range from $35.59 to $25.50 over the last year, its P/E ratio is 23.5, it has a 50-day SMA of $27.42, and a 200-day SMA of $26.78.
Lehigh Gas Partners LP is engaged in the wholesale distribution of motor fuels, consisting of gasoline and diesel fuel. It also owns and leases real estate used in the retail distribution of motor fuels.
Equities.com's Small-Cap Stars - Stocks Made From Sterner Stuff
Investing in small-cap materials stocks is a high-risk, high-reward proposition much of the time. Often, the best way to approach the sector is simply limiting the number of misses as much as possible. And that's what the equities.com Small-Cap Stars system does.
By looking at past success stories among basic materials small caps, the Small-Cap Stars system can identify what level several dozen metrics were at among those successful companies and determine which of those factors were the most predictive of future success. We then precisely construct a carefully balanced screen through advanced statistical regression that will identify those companies that currently have the most in common with those that succeeded in the past immediately before those stocks took off.
Among the traits our system found the most revealing of a strong materials company were a low ratio of enterprise value to sales, a low effective tax rate, and a high ROE-cost of equity.
All data provided by QuoteMedia and was accurate as of 4:30 pm ET.