Here’s Why These Five Stocks Are In the Spotlight

Many traders are on edge today after Tuesday’s sudden volatility burst in which the VIX soared by 15% to close above 15.3. Although the U.S. economy is strong, there are plenty of question marks in both Europe and China. If interest rates rise or the U.S. government allows profits to be brought back home at a lower rate, emerging markets may also have a difficult time.

Among the securities that traders are watching today are LPL Financial Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:LPLA), MGT Capital Investments Inc. (NYSEMKT:MGT), Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), Performance Sports Group Ltd (NYSE:PSG), and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA). Let’s analyze the factors causing each stock to trend and see what the smart money thinks of each stock.

While there are many metrics that investors can assess in the investment process, the hedge fund sentiment is something that is often overlooked. However, hedge funds and other institutional investors allocate significant resources while making their bets and their long-term focus makes them the perfect investors to emulate. This is supported by our research, which determined that following the small-cap stocks that hedge funds are collectively bullish on can help a smaller investor to beat the S&P 500 by around 95 basis points per month (see the details here).

LPL Financial Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:LPLA) jumped by almost 7% in late trading on Tuesday after Reuters reported that the company is working with Goldman Sachs to explore strategic alternatives, including selling itself. Potential bidders would likely include private equity firms and other companies. 13 funds in our system owned shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:LPLA) as of the most recent 13F reporting period, down by eight funds from the March 31 reporting period.

MGT Capital Investments Inc. (NYSEMKT:MGT) surged by almost 40% on Tuesday after the company announced that it plans to terminate its current asset purchase agreement with D-Vasive (due to the NYSE MKT not allowing the company to list the 43.8 million shares on its exchange required to complete the closing of the merger). Nevertheless, MGT Capital has reached tentative agreements with John McAfee and Eric Anderson that will see them retain their CEO and CTO roles at MGT Capital, respectively. Moreover, MGT has reached a tentative agreement to exclusively license or acquire the Demonsaw source code and technology platform from D-Vasive. MGT believes the revised deal structure “would be acceptable under NYSE MKT rules.” Just four of the hedge funds that we track owned shares of MGT Capital Investments Inc. (NYSEMKT:MGT) at the end of the second quarter.

On the next page we’ll take a closer look at the latest news concerning Chevron, Performance Sports Group, and Boeing.

While Brent is now at a level where the company’s dividend is sustainable, Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) isn’t pulling the cord on its non-core asset divestment program. According to Bloomberg, the supermajor is currently in talks to sell its natural gas assets in Bangladesh for around $2 billion. Interested suitors include various Chinese and Indian energy companies. Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management owned more than 3.6 million shares in Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) at the end of June.

Performance Sports Group Ltd (NYSE:PSG) is in the spotlight today after it popped by close to 10% on Tuesday on the back of a Bloomberg report that said Brookfield Asset Management is considering bidding for the company. Brookfield, which is Canada’s largest alternative asset manager, already owns 13.2% of the company, making it Performance Sports’ second-largest shareholder. 13 funds in our database were bullish on Performance Sports Group Ltd (NYSE:PSG) at the end of the second quarter.

Last but not least, Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) is trending after the company announced that a manned flight of its space taxi program will be delayed for the second time due to various technical and supplier issues. Boeing now sees the flight occurring around mid-2018 and warned that it could potentially factor in a financial charge due to the delay in its third quarter results or future results. Of the 749 hedge funds that we track which filed 13Fs for the June quarter, 40 of them were long Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) on June 30, owning $1.07 billion worth of its shares.

Disclosure: None