Why Are These Five Stocks in Spotlight Today?

Anheuser in the Spotlight

Anheuser Busch Inbev SA (ADR) (NYSE:BUD) posted EPS of $1.06 on sales of $10.81 billion for the second quarter, comfortably beating profit estimates by $0.06 per share but missing the top-line consensus estimate by $120 million. Although the total volume declined by 1.7% year-over-year, revenue rose by 4%, driven by robust growth in the company’s premium brands. EBITDA grew by 4.3% to 4.011 billion and the company also made significant progress towards getting regulator approval to merger with SABMiller. Management believes the merger will close sometime this year. The number of investors from our database with holdings in Anheuser Busch Inbev SA (ADR) (NYSE:BUD) fell by four quarter-over-quarter to 32 at the end of March.

Alon USA Posts Mixed Results

Traders are watching Alon USA Energy, Inc. (NYSE:ALJ) today after the company disclosed a second-quarter loss of $0.21 per share on sales of $1 billion, missing profit estimates by $0.02 per share and beating the top-line expectations by $143.34 million. Sales slid by 23.1% year-over-year amid pressure on crack spreads from high product inventories. The average Gulf Coast 3/2/1 crack spread was $13.16 per barrel in the quarter, versus $19.71 a year earlier. Bulls hope the spread will increase as product inventories decline. At the end of the first quarter, 15 funds owned shares of Alon USA Energy, Inc. (NYSE:ALJ), compared to 21 funds a quarter earlier.

TerraForm Said to Put Itself on the Selling Block 

According to a Bloomberg article, TerraForm Power Inc (NASDAQ:TERP) is in the process of setting up an auction beginning in September to sell itself. TerraForm Power’s interest in selling itself is likely due to Brookfield Asset Management having tried to buy control of the company earlier. TerraForm’s board subsequently instituted a ‘poison pill’ to prevent any outside action that would dramatically undervalue the company. Among the investors we track, 29 funds owned $353.96 million worth of TerraForm Power Inc (NASDAQ:TERP)’s stock, which accounted for 29.40% of the float on March 31, versus 24 funds and $608.8 million, respectively, at the end of December.

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