Three Small Cap Stocks Up on Down Day for Market

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A day after a rare up day for stocks, U.S. financial markets returned to their typical May form on Wednesday.

The S&P 500 fell 1.4% today, erasing all of yesterday’s gains and then some. The Dow dropped 160 points, or nearly 1.3%. The Nasdaq tumbled 1.17%.

But there were plenty of stocks up on an otherwise down day. Many of them were small caps.

Here were three of the best performing small cap stocks from a gloomy Wednesday:

  • Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH): This Virginia-based holding company advanced 13% after announcing a special dividend of $1.50 per share. It was the stock’s biggest one-day jump since November 17, 2010. The one-time dividend will be paid out June 29 to anyone who owns shares in the stock as of June 11 – hence the sudden interest in Booz Allen’s stock. The dividend was announced as part of the company’s quarterly earnings report. Booz Allen reported profits of $62.2 million, or 44 cents a share.
  • EnerSys (NYSE: ENS): This small cap stock was up 6% today, continuing a two-day bump that has correlated with the company’s stellar first-quarter earnings last Friday. EnerSys beat expectations on earnings per share, and sales were up 8% for the quarter. The makers of energy solutions for industrial applications have now seen their stock rise a whopping 28.5% in 2012.
  • Nevsun Resources (NYSE: NSU): This Canadian gold mining company shot up 7% today. It’s unclear what the catalyst was today, but Nevsun is just two weeks removed from declaring a semi-annual dividend of $0.05 per share. The gold stock is still down big for the year, however, with a 35% loss even after today’s gains.
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