Why PepsiCo, Philip Morris, Fitbit, and Two Other Stocks Are Making Headlines Today

With the end of the quarter approaching once again, the markets are quiet as investors await the latest economic data-points slated to be made public this week.

In this article, we will find out why traders are buzzing about five stocks, PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP), Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM), Fitbit Inc (NYSE:FIT), Transocean LTD (NYSE:RIG), and Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc (NYSEMKT:ATNM). In addition, we will take a look at what the investors 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).

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PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) shares are in the green after the consumer staple reported solid results for its fiscal third quarter. During the period, PepsiCo earned $1.40 per share, beating estimates by $0.08 per share. Revenue was $16.03 billion, down by 1.8% year-over-year mainly due to the strong dollar, but still $200 million better than the consensus estimate. Organic revenue for the period grew by 4.2% year-over-year and the company’s core constant-currency EPS inched up 7% due to core operating margin rising 30 basis points and core gross margin expanding 50 basis points. For 2016, PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE:PEP) expects 2016 core earnings of $4.78 per share and approximately 4% organic revenue growth when adjusting for certain factors. Donald Yacktman‘s Yacktman Asset Management cut its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP)  by 21% in the second quarter to just over 10.61 million shares held at the end of June.

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) is trending after the company updated its full year 2016 guidance during its investor day. Due to various changes, the company now sees full year EPS of $4.53 to $4.58, excluding the impact of share repurchases. That’s better than the average analyst estimate of $4.49 per share. The management also expects total cigarette sector volume to inch lower by 2% to 2.5% year-over-year when excluding China and the United States. The hedge fund sentiment towards Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) has been mostly stable. According to our database of around 749 funds, 47 of them were long Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) at the end of the second quarter, down by one from the previous quarter.

On the next page, we take a closer look at Fitbit, Transocean LTD, and Actinium Pharmaceuticals.