Here’s Why Traders Are Buzzing about General Electric, Deutsche Bank, and Other Stocks

The latest EIA inventory numbers are in, and U.S. crude inventories fell by 4.1 million barrels, a number greater than expectations. Not surprisingly, crude futures are 2% higher and the indexes are each 1% higher.

Among the stocks trending today are Diamond Resorts International Inc (NYSE:DRII), General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), Worthington Industries, Inc. (NYSE:WOR), Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI), and Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE:DB). Let’s take a closer look at the events concerning the five companies and see how the investors we track at Insider Monkey are positioned towards them

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).

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Diamond Resorts Sells Itself

Diamond Resorts International Inc (NYSE:DRII) has surged by over 23% after the company agreed to sell itself to Apollo Global Management for $30.25 in cash per share. The total value of the transaction represents a 26% premium from Diamond Resorts’ closing price on June 28 and is worth $2.2 billion in value in total. The deal is expected to close over the next few months. A total of 28 funds tracked by us were long Diamond Resorts International Inc (NYSE:DRII) at the end of the first quarter.

GE is No Longer Too Big to Fail 

General Electric Company (NYSE:GE)’s shares have inched up by 1.75% after the Financial Stability Oversight Council voted to rescind GE Capital’s designation as a systemically important financial institution. Although being too big to fail is good in times of crisis, the designation isn’t an advantage in good times because it comes with all sorts of regulatory strings attached. To avoid those strings, GE has slowly sold much of its financial assets to focus more on its industrial units. Among the funds we track, 64 funds owned shares of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) at the end of the first quarter, up by 10 funds from the previous quarter.

On the next page, we examine Worthington Industries, Acuity Brands, and Deutsche Bank AG (USA).
Worthington Industries Reports Earnings

Worthington Industries, Inc. (NYSE:WOR) is 1.0% in the green today after reporting fiscal fourth quarter earnings of $0.87 per share on revenue of $714.7 million, beating the consensus estimates by $0.23 per share and $22.22 million, respectively. For the fiscal year ended May 31, Worthington reported net sales of $2.8 billion and earnings of $2.22 per diluted share. Shares of the company are up by 24% year-to-date and trade for 14 times forward earnings. Of the 766 funds we track, 15 funds owned $90.95 million worth of Worthington Industries, Inc. (NYSE:WOR)’s stock, which accounted for 4.00% of the float on March 31, versus 15 funds and $69.63 million, respectively, a quarter earlier.

Acuity’s Third Quarter Beats Estimates

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) shares are almost 2% higher after the company reported fiscal third quarter earnings of $2.06 per share on revenue of $851.5 million, beating analyst estimates by $0.03 per share and $3.71 million, respectively. The adjusted gross profit margin was a record 44.5%, while adjusted operating profit margin rose by 140 basis points year-over-year to 17.2%. In terms of outlook, management remains bullish regarding the company’s prospects for continued future profitable growth. At the end of March, 22 funds tracked by us were long Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI), down by nine funds from the previous quarter.

Soros Shorted Deutsche Bank AG 

Although he didn’t short the British Pound like he did in 1992, George Soros did short Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE:DB) around Britain’s vote to remain or leave the EU on June 23. According to regulatory filings, Soros Fund Management had a short position of 7.0 million shares on June 24, which is equal to 0.51% of Deutsche Bank’s share capital. It is unclear whether Soros was short Deutsche Bank as a hedge or because he is bearish on the company’s future prospects, however. Overall, 10 funds tracked by us reported long positions in Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE:DB) as of the end of March.

Disclosure: none