General Motors Company (GM), Basic Energy Services Inc. (BAS) and Three Others Among Stocks Making Headlines Today

Strong quarterly results from Netflix, UnitedHealth and J&J, among others have boosted the US stock market today, with all three indexes trading in the green.

Among the stocks that are in the spotlight today on reasons not connected with financial releases are General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), Basic Energy Services Inc. (NYSE:BAS), FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX), Cae Inc. (USA) (NYSE:CAE) and Amaya Inc. (NASDAQ:AYA). Let’s take a closer look at the developments surrounding these stocks and assess the hedge fund sentiment towards them.

Out of thousands of stocks that are trading on the market every day, it can be difficult sometimes to pick the right investment that can deliver market-beating returns. Here’s where our research comes in. By analyzing the equity portfolios of around 750 hedge funds and other institutional investors, we can see what stocks they are collectively bullish on and use this data to compile a portfolio that can outperform the market (see more details).

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General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) stock has inched down amid news of LG Chem providing optimistic forecast for the company’s Bolt EVs. The company said that it expects 30,000 Bolt vehicles to be sold in the next year. South Korea’s LG Chem supplies batteries to General Motor for its upcoming Bolt electric vehicles. Chevrolet Bolt cars are expected to have an average driving range of 238 miles on a full charge. Among the funds we track, 65 funds held $3.29 billion worth of eneral Motors Company (NYSE:GM)’s stock at the end of June, versus 67 investors that held $3.71 billion worth of stock a quarter earlier.

Basic Energy Services Inc. (NYSE:BAS) has inched up by over 2% as the company announced receiving an extension of waiver from asset-based lenders. The new extension of seven days will last through October 24 and the company expects to have adequate liquidity for its operations in the ordinary course of the business. It also expects to meet all of its obligations to suppliers, customers and employees. The number of funds from our database long Basic Energy declined by one to five during the second quarter.

On the next page, we are going to discuss the latest news involving the other three stocks.

FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX)’s shares opened higher but are currently trading close to flat following news about the company’s new investment in France worth $1.5 billion, following which it will double its capacity at Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris. A total of $220 million has been earmarked for extending the facilities at airport, while the remaining amount will represent the guaranteed total amount of rent over the period of 30 years. FedEx will start a new package sorting facility in 2019, leading to creation of 200 to 400 jobs. A total of 46 hedge funds tracked by us owned shares of FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) worth about $3.34 billion at the end of June, which represented about 8.20% of the company’s outstanding stock.

Cae Inc. (USA) (NYSE:CAE) stock is trading in the green after the company announced signing a series of contracts, which include training programs with several airlines in North America and Asia. The company has also inked a deal for the sale of 12 full-flight simulators for airline training globally, which will be acquired by JetBlue Airways, Lufthansa Flight Training and Embraer CAE Training Services, among others. These training and sales contracts are expected to be worth CAD 200 million ($152.60 million). At the end of June, 11 funds we track held shares of Cae Inc. (USA) (NYSE:CAE), compared to eight funds a quarter earlier.

Shares of Amaya Inc. (NASDAQ:AYA) have slid by more than 8% so far today as its proposed merger with William Hill had been called off. Amaya said that it is in the best interest of its shareholders that the company remains independent, while William Hill faced opposition to the merger from its investors. The gambling sector is currently going through a consolidation phase. The number of funds from our database that held shares of Amaya Inc. (NASDAQ:AYA) remained unchanged at 17 during the second quarter, while the aggregate value of their positions surged to $685 million from $397 million and represented around 30.80% of the company’s float at the end of June.

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