UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH), MGIC Investment Corp. (MTG), and More: Why These Stocks Are Trending Today

It’s a green day on Wall Street as all three indexes are higher. The Dow has jumped by 77 points, the S&P is 0.6% in the green, and the NASDAQ has surged by almost 1%, powered by several solid earnings reports in the tech sector.

In this article, we will examine why investors are buzzing about five companies, UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH), Kansas City Southern (NYSE:KSU), MGIC Investment Corp. (NYSE:MTG), MakeMyTrip Limited (NASDAQ:MMYT), and Abeona Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ABEO). Moreover, we will also take a look at what the funds from our database think about the companies in question.

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).

matthew siddons / Shutterstock.com

UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) shares have surged by over 6% after the company reported third-quarter results that were ahead of the Street’s estimates. The insurer earned $2.17 per share on revenue of $46.29 billion, beating the consensus estimates by $0.09 and $200 million, respectively. The company’s sales grew by  11.6% on the year as premiums jumped by 13.7% y and products revenue inched up by 3.3%. In addition, UnitedHealth increased its full-year adjusted EPS outlook to $8 from the previous range of $7.80 to $7.95. John Lykouretzos‘ Hoplite Capital Management more than doubled its stake in the second quarter to over 465,000 shares in UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH).

Kansas City Southern (NYSE:KSU) is 1.8% in the red on the back of the railroad posting mixed results for its third quarter. In the three months, Kansas City Southern earned $1.12 per share on sales of $604.5 million, missing profit estimates by $0.10 per share and beating the top-line consensus estimate by $1.82 million. Revenue fell by 4.3% year-over-year due to a 4% drop in total carload volume and a 1% decline in revenue per carload/unit. Operating ratio for the period came in at 66.9%, compared with 65.2% a quarter earlier. Of the 749 funds we track, 35 funds amassed 9.70% of Kansas City Southern (NYSE:KSU)’s float on June 30.

On the next page, we will take a closer look at the earnings report of MGIC Investment Corp, and will examine why MakeMyTrip Limited, and Abeona Therapeutics are trending.
MGIC Investment Corp. (NYSE:MTG) shares are 3% in the green after the company reported third-quarter EPS of $0.25 and revenue of $273.85 million, which topped analyst expectations by $0.06 and $13.91 million, respectively. New insurance written advanced by 14.4% year-over-year to $14.2 billion, helping insurance in force inch up 4.3% on the year to $180.1 billion. Book value per share rose to $7.48 from $6.33 per share in the third quarter of 2015. The number of funds from our database with holdings in MGIC Investment Corp. (NYSE:MTG) rose by nine quarter-over-quarter to 46 at the end of June.

MakeMyTrip Limited (NASDAQ:MMYT) shares have surged 44% following news that the company had agreed to pursue a transaction that will combine ibibo Group and MakeMyTrip under the MakeMyTrip umbrella, creating one of the leading travel groups in India that processed 34.1 million transactions during fiscal 2016. MakeMyTrip’s management expects the deal to unlock value for customers, supply partners and shareholders and the transaction is expected to close by the end of this year. A total of 13 funds followed by our team held shares of MakeMyTrip Limited (NASDAQ:MMYT) at the end of the second quarter, down by one from the previous quarter.

Abeona Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ABEO) has rallied 12% on the back of the announcement that it has received the orphan drug designation from the EMA for ABO-102 gene therapy in Sanfilippo Syndrome Type A. ABO-102 has previously been granted the Orphan product designation from the FDA earlier. The designation status provides incentives and benefits in the EU, including reduced fees and protection from market competition if ABO-102 is approved for the treatment of MPS IIIA patients. Nine funds from our database held $14.53 million worth of Abeona Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ABEO)’s stock, which accounted for 18.90% of the float on June 30, versus seven funds and $15.35 million, respectively, on March 31.

Disclosure: none