In afternoon trade the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) is on course to make it three up days in a row with a 0.3% gain to 5,795 points.
Four shares which have climbed more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are higher:
The a2 Milk Company Ltd (Australia) (ASX: A2M) share price has jumped 7% to $4.19 thanks to a positive research note out of Credit Suisse. Due to the investment bank's belief that infant formula volume growth has accelerated in recent months, its analysts have raised their price target on its shares to NZ$4.88 ($4.57).
The Creso Pharma Ltd (ASX: CPH) share price is up almost 4% to 57 cents after the medicinal cannabis company announced that it plans to acquire Nova Scotia-based medicinal cannabis producer Mernova Medicinal Inc for a total of C$10.1 million (A$10.2 million) in cash and equity. The deal will make Creso the first Australian pot stock with direct exposure to the world's largest legal medicinal cannabis market.
The Nanosonics Ltd. (ASX: NAN) share price is up 5% to $2.48 despite there being no news out of the infection control specialist. But with its shares down 22% in the last three months, it appears as though bargain hunters have swooped in today. I can't blame them, I think Nanosonics is very attractive at the current share price.
The St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) share price has jumped 6.5% to $2.79 a day after the gold miner released its quarterly production update. One broker which was especially impressed with its update was Deutsche Bank. In light of strong production at its Simberi operation, Deutsche reiterated its buy rating and raised its price target to $3.20. With its shares trading at around 8x earnings, St Barbara could be a good option for investors that are bullish on the gold price.
