Star Scientific, Astrotech: Volume Movers

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- Star Scientific (CIGX) was one of several stocks trading below $5 moving on above-average volume Monday on market chatter the company was a takeover target.

Star Scientific shares popped after Briefing.com attributed the stock's early strength to takeover speculation. Traders posting on Twitter noted Star Scientific's charts, arguing that the stock was poised to break out.

Other traders posting on Internet message boards noted an article by a trader invested in the stock who argued Star Scientific could hit $6 if the company's CigRx product achieves $100 million in sales the first year.

Shares of Star Scientific rallied 22 cents, or 11.8%, to $2.08. Volume topped 2.56 million shares, compared to the average daily share volume of 1.61 million.

Elsewhere, Astrotech (ASTC) gained 49 cents, or 38%, to $1.78 after the company said NASA awarded its subsidiary a new contract valued at up to $9.5 million for payload processing services for expendable launch vehicles (ELVs) and evolved expendable launch vehicles. Volume topped 1.2 million shares, compared to the average daily share volume of 104,000.

Delta Petroleum (DPTR) climbed by 12.1 cents, or 15.1%, to 92.1 cents after the company said it will sell various non-core assets to Wapiti Oil & Gas for $130 million. Delta Petroleum also announced that it signed a new amendment to its credit agreement of its senior credit facility, reducing its borrowing base to $35 million.

Additionally, the amendment permits Delta Petroleum to spend up to $28 million in capital expenditures for the third and fourth quarter 2010. Volume topped 4.23 million shares, compared to the average daily share volume of 4.79 million.

Level 3 Communications (LVLT) rose by 7 cents, or 6.4%, to $1.17 ahead of the company's second-quarter earnings report. Analysts expect Level 3 will say it had a loss of 11 cents a share on revenue of $909.8 million when it reports results early Tuesday. Volume topped 6.02 million shares, compared to the average daily share volume of 11.03 million.

On the downside, Noah Education (NED) shares fell by 67 cents, or 19.6%, to $2.75 after the company slashed its fiscal fourth-quarter guidance, saying it underestimated the disruption due to its realignment plan. Noah Education now expects that revenue will drop 53% from a year ago, which would equate to revenue of roughly $8.2 million in the quarter. That is well below its prior guidance range of $18.9 million to $19.8 million. Volume topped 265,000 shares, compared to the average daily share volume of 56,000.

DayStar Technologies (DSTI) dropped by 29 cents, or 11.5%, to $2.23, bringing its two-session loss to 18.6%. On Thursday, DayStar shares rallied more than 85% after the company said it is pursuing a strategy for offshore manufacturing. The move comes after a dispute with its landlord resulted in DayStar's loss of its California address. Volume topped 206,000 shares, compared to the average daily share volume of 364,000.

-- Written by Robert Holmes in Boston.

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