Jones Soda, Callon Petroleum: Early Volume Plays

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Several stocks trading near $5 were poised to move on above-average volume during Tuesday's session.

Jones Soda (JSDA) plummeted by 22 cents, or 26.2%, to 62 cents in the premarket session after the beverage company was purchased at a discount by Reed's (REED). The cash-and-stock deal, worth about $9.7 million, will see Jones shareholders receive an aggregate 4.5 million shares of Reed's common stock and 10 cents per Jones share in cash. The offer values Jones Soda's stock at 37 cents per share, based on Monday's closing price for Reed's shares. The 50-day average daily volume for Jones Soda is 199,000, according to the Nasdaq.

Cerus (CERS) jumped by 34 cents, or 14.4%, to $2.70 in the premarket session after R.W. Baird analysts upgraded shares of the biomedical products maker to outperform. The firm argued that the market is undervaluing Cerus' INTERCEPT Blood System. The 50-day average daily volume for Cerus is 289,000.

U.S. Geothermal (HTX) was poised to lose ground Tuesday after the geothermal resources company said it has agreed to issue 8.2 million common shares at a price of $1.05 per share as part of a $8.6 million private placement financing agreement. The three-month average daily volume for U.S. Geothermal is 298,000, according to Yahoo! Finance.

Callon Petroleum (CPE) rallied by 40 cents, or 9.9%, to $4.46 in the premarket session after the oil and gas exploration company posted a fourth-quarter profit of $2.27 a share, compared to a net loss of $21.19 a share in the year-ago quarter. Revenue surged more than 350% to $70.9 million, Callon said. The three-month average daily volume for is 547,000.

-- Written by Robert Holmes in Boston.

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