Why Spectra Energy, Clorox, HollyFrontier and 2 More Are in the Limelight

All three index futures are slightly in the red this morning after North Korea launched a missile into Japanese waters. Although the move is likely just saber-rattling, any escalation between the two countries could cause the market to go into ‘risk-off’ mode.

In this article, we’ll examine the latest quarterly financial results out of five companies, Spectra Energy Corp. (NYSE:SE), RR Donnelley & Sons Co (NASDAQ:RRD), Clorox Co (NYSE:CLX), HollyFrontier Corp (NYSE:HFC), and Vitamin Shoppe Inc (NYSE:VSI) and see what hedge funds think of each stock using SEC filings.

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Spectra Misses the Consensus

Spectra Energy Corp. (NYSE:SE) is in the spotlight today after the company reported second quarter earnings of $0.24 per share on sales of $1.16 billion, missing the consensus marks by $0.03 and $100 million respectively. The company’s execution backlog grew to $10 billion, with $1.8 billion of new demand-pull contracts in the quarter. EBITDA was $655 million for the period, slightly higher than last year’s $652 million. Ongoing distributable cash flow came in at $271 million and management continues to expect full-year dividend coverage of 1.2-times. Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies cut its position in Spectra Energy Corp. (NYSE:SE) by 29% during the first quarter to 765,600 shares as of March 31.

RR Donnelley & Sons Beats

The second quarter was a solid one for RR Donnelley & Sons Co (NASDAQ:RRD) as the company beat top- and bottom-line estimates with its EPS of $0.34 and revenue of $2.73 billion. Analysts were expecting $0.06 per share and $60 million less, respectively. The company’s guidance was a little mixed however, with management expecting net sales to come in at the low end of its previous guidance of $11.3 billion-to-$11.5 billion for the full year, and for its non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA margin to come in at the high end of its previous outlook of 10.4%-to-10.6%. Management continues to expect free cash flow of $400 million-to-$500 million for the full year. Of the 766 active hedge funds that we track, 22 funds were long RR Donnelley & Sons Co (NASDAQ:RRD) on March 31, owning aggregate positions valued at $127.69 million which accounted for 3.70% of the float on March 31.

On the next page we’ll find out why Clorox Co, HollyFrontier Corp, and Vitamin Shoppe are in the spotlight this morning.