3 stocks endured heavy trading volumes despite listless price action

Imperial Oil Limited, HollyFrontier Corp, Tenaris S.A. had the highest volumes yesterday.

A recap of yesterday's session: Markets completed a mixed session yesterday, as after dropping 0.17%, Dow Jones closed at 33,619. Nasdaq ended the session at 12,257 after a 0.18% gain.

Why Trading Volume Matters

Trading volume is simply the total number of shares traded including both buy and sell orders. If a stock has appreciated on high volume, it is more likely to be a sustained move compared to an appreciation with low volume. Typically, high volume trading sessions are considered significant occurrences and closely watched by traders.

While trading was mostly sideways yesterday, several energy stocks were actively traded. Here's an update:

Imperial Oil | 207% higher than rolling average

5 months ago Canada's second-largest oiler reached a significant high of $57.87 but has consequently lost 19.42% since then. The company has a market cap of $27.33 billion with an average daily volume of 488,514 shares.

Yesterday's trading volume peaked at 1 million shares, thereby blitzing the daily average of 488,514 by 207%.

HollyFrontier | 119% slightly greater than rolling average

HollyFrontier ascends 2% to close at $36.39 yesterday.

HollyFrontier had a compelling day yesterday, with 4.78 million shares traded helping the company surpass its average daily volume by 119%.

Tenaris | 154% higher than rolling average

Trading volume peaked at 3.82 million shares yesterday, thereby obliterating the daily average of 2.48 million by 154%.

The steel piping manufacturer is now trading 25.52% below the significant high of $36.67 it set around 2 months ago.

— Average trading volume refers to a 21-day rolling average.