Why RLJ Entertainment, Supervalu, Apple, and Two Other Stocks Are Making Headlines Today

Despite earnings season gearing up, it’s a quiet day on Wall Street as all three indexes are close to flat. The Dow is down 23 points, the S&P 500 is off 0.07% and the NASDAQ is 0.03% in the red.

Among the stocks showing more volatility than the indices are RLJ Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:RLJE), AMC Networks Inc (NASDAQ:AMCX), Delek US Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DK), SUPERVALU INC. (NYSE:SVU), and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). Let’s examine the events that put each stock in the spotlight and see what the smart money investors we track at Insider Monkey think about each of them.

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RLJ Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:RLJE) has spiked by 16% and AMC Networks Inc (NASDAQ:AMCX) is trending after the two announced that they have formed a strategic partnership for streaming services. Under the terms of the agreement, AMC Networks will invest $65 million in the form of loans to RLJ to refinance the company’s existing senior credit facility, and to generally improve the company’s balance sheet. In addition, AMC Networks has received warrants that, if exercised, will give AMC at least 50.1% of the outstanding RLJ Entertainment common stock. AMC’s investment will accelerate the development and distribution of diverse content and films from RLJ across different platforms. According to our database, the number of funds with holdings in RLJ Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:RLJE) rose by one quarter-over-quarter to three at the end of June. Meanwhile, 24 funds amassed $263.83 million worth of AMC Networks Inc (NASDAQ:AMCX)’s stock, which accounted for 6.00% of the float on June 30.

Delek US Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DK) is in the spotlight after it offered to buy all of Alon USA Energy, Inc. (NYSE:ALJ)’s outstanding shares of common stock it doesn’t already own. The proposal is for an all-stock transaction at a fixed exchange ratio of 0.44 shares of Delek common stock for each outstanding share of the common stock of Alon. Alon has said it will consider the deal. A total of 18 funds tracked by us were long Delek US Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DK) at the end of the second quarter, unchanged from the previous quarter.

On the next page, we will examine SUPERVALU and Apple.
SUPERVALU INC. (NYSE:SVU) shares have soared by 5% after the company announced it had entered into a definitive agreement with an affiliate of Onex, which will buy SUPERVALU INC. (NYSE:SVU)’s Save-A-Lot business for $1.365 billion in cash, subject to general closing adjustments. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of January 2017 and helps improve SUPERVALU’s balance sheet and focus on its core strengths. SUPERVALU will use the net proceeds from the sale to prepay at least $750 million against an outstanding term loan balance. Conan Laughlin‘s North Tide Capital inched up its holding in SUPERVALU INC. (NYSE:SVU) by 3% to 24.5 million shares during the second quarter.

Although it doesn’t come at a complete surprise, Bloomberg is reporting that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has ‘drastically scaled back’ its secret automotive project, causing hundreds of engineers to leave, as apparently the iPhone maker won’t produce its own vehicle. According to the article, Apple’s top brass has established a deadline of late 2017 to decide whether to proceed with its self-driving platform. One reason for the course change for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was internal disagreements, while another reason was the complexity of the automotive supply chain. A total of 116 funds from our database were long Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) at the end of June, down by 36 funds from the previous quarter.

Disclosure: None