Kroger, Houghton Mifflin Dip into Friday's 52-Week Low Club

September 23, 2016: Here are four stocks trading with relatively heavy volume among 13 equities making new 52-week lows in Friday’s session. NYSE decliners led advancers by nearly 2 to 1 and Nasdaq decliners led advancers by about 3 to 2.

Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) lost about 1% Friday to post a new 52-week low of $30.45 after closing Thursday at $30.75. The 52-week high is $42.75. Volume of around 6.6 million was nearly 35% below the daily average of around 10 million shares traded. The oilfield services company had no specific news. Barclays initiated coverage of the stock this morning with a Neutral rating.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co. (NASDAQ: HMHC) dropped about 12% on Friday to post a new 52-week low of $13.07 after closing at $14.89 on Thursday. The stock’s 52-week high is $22.01. Volume was about 5 times the daily average of around 750,000 shares. The publishing firm’s CEO resigned this morning.

Tidewater Inc. (NYSE: TDW) dropped about 9.7% on Friday to post a new 52-week low of $2.42 against a 52-week high of $17.93. Volume of around 1.2 million was 25% below the daily average of 1.7 million shares traded. The stock closed at $2.68 on Thursday night. The services supplier to offshore energy drillers had no specific news.

Hornbeck Offshore Services Inc. (NYSE: HOS) dropped about 8% on Friday to post a new 52-week low of $4.68 against a 52-week high of $17.80. Volume of around 1.1 million was about equal to the daily average. The stock closed at $5.09 on Thursday night. The offshore oilfield services company had no specific news Friday.