3 stocks endured heavy trading volumes despite listless price action

HollyFrontier Corp, Baker Hughes Co, Cabot Oil & Gas Corp had the highest volumes yesterday.

A recap of yesterday's session: Markets did not have a clear cut direction — S&P 500 closed at 4,155 after a flat day. Dow Jones closed 33,977 after a stable day.

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:

HollyFrontier | 119% slightly above rolling average

HollyFrontier Corp is currently trading with a market cap of $7.14 billion with an average daily volume of 4 million shares.

Trading volume peaked at 4.78 million shares yesterday, thereby obliterating the daily average of 4 million by 119%.

Baker Hughes | 160% above rolling average

An influx of buyers helped the industrial service company to end the session higher around $29.5, while establishing a $29 to $29.75 session range yesterday.

With 11 million shares traded yesterday, Baker Hughes beat its daily average by 160% to cap off a frenetic trading day.

Cabot Oil & Gas Corp | 219% higher than rolling average

The company is currently trading with a market cap of $17 billion with an average daily trading volume of 8.56 million shares.

Cabot Oil & Gas Corp outpaced its average daily trading volume (8.56 million) with 18.76 million shares traded yesterday.

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