Why Molina Healthcare, China Lodging Group, and U.S. Silica Holdings Jumped Today
The stock market fell sharply on Thursday, with major benchmarks finishing the day down between 1% and 2%. A terrorist attack in Barcelona reminded investors of the numerous geopolitical threats abroad, and the continuing fallout from events over the weekend in the U.S. had investors increasingly doubtful that the Trump administration will be able to move forward expeditiously in getting its agenda through Congress and into law. Even with the big declines in the market, some stocks still managed to post gains. Molina Healthcare (NYSE: MOH), China Lodging Group (NASDAQ: HTHT), and U.S. Silica Holdings (NYSE: SLCA) were among the best performers on the day. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so well.
Shares of Molina Healthcare moved higher by 5% after the health insurance company earned a favorable mention in a report from Wall Street analysts today. Analysts at Morgan Stanley made the rare move of boosting their rating on Molina all the way from underweight to overweight, raising their price target by $3 to $68 per share. Molina had struggled early in the year as the outlook for the Medicaid managed care insurance market looked cloudy due to potential healthcare reform. Yet Molina's efforts to restructure its operations and put new management in place had already started to work, and analysts believe that the company has further to run. Shareholders seemed inclined to agree, sending the stock higher.
Image source: Molina Healthcare.
Source: Fool.com