Why These 6 Stocks Are Moving on Heavy Volume Today

The U.S stock market is trading lower today after Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said producers should lower their costs or simply “get out” of the petroleum industry. Oil has slid by 3.5%, contributing to the three major U.S indices being off by about 1% in afternoon trading. Against this backdrop, several stocks are making big moves in opposite directions today, on high trading volume. Those stocks are Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR), Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), Encana Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ECA), Dreamworks Animation Skg Inc (NASDAQ:DWA), and Papa John’s Int’l, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA), and in this article we’ll take a look at the latest developments that have sent these stocks higher and lower today and see what smart money investors think about them.

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Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR)’s stock is nearly 25% lower today on the back of its financial results for the fourth quarter and full 2015 year. For the quarter ended December 31, Avis Budget Group reported revenue of $1.90 billion, while its adjusted diluted earnings per share fell to $0.18, down from $0.23 a year earlier. While the profit (or lack thereof) met analysts’ estimates, Avis missed on revenue estimates by about $40 million. Far more damning in the eyes of investors was the company’s 2016 guidance of EPS in the range of $2.70 to $3.30, while the Street’s expectations were for 2016 EPS of $3.43.

During the fourth quarter, Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) registered a decrease in popularity among the funds that we track, with 33 investors holding long positions at the end of December, down from 44 at the end of September. Among them, Karthik Sarma’s SRS Investment Management was the largest shareholder, reporting ownership of 9.5 million shares in its latest 13F filing.

Next on our list are Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) and General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), both of which are off by 4%, despite an experienced auto analyst saying that the future sales of trucks should help increase the stock prices of the American automakers. However, analysts at Credit Suisse downgraded their rating on Ford Motor Company to ‘Underperform’ from ‘Neutral’ and established a price target of $13 per share on it, representing marginal upside, while General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) has the felt the sting from an analyst call as well, with Morgan Stanley having reiterated an ‘Underweight’ rating and a price target of $26, which suggests downside potential of over 10%.

Hedge funds were slightly optimistic on Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) in the fourth quarter, with 39 funds long the stock at the end of the quarter, up from 38 funds at the close of the third quarter. Heading in the opposite direction was GM, which has far more investors than Ford as of the end of December among those that we track, at 84, but which lost a new of four funds during the quarter. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway was the top GM shareholder in our system, with 50.00 million shares at the end of December.

On the positive side of things, we’ve got Encana Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ECA), whose stock has rallied by 20% after the company reported fourth quarter EPS of $0.13 on revenue of $1.03 billion yesterday, beating profit estimates by $0.12 per share but missing revenue expectations. The more notable news factoring into today’s move however was the company’s cuts to its workforce. Along with the quarterly results, Encana Corporation announced that it will cut about 20% of its workforce, targeting a $550 million reduction in spending. Further, it is planning $900 million-to-$1 billion in capex spending, a 55% reduction from its 2015 capital investment. During the fourth quarter, hedge fund ownership of Encana Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ECA) among those in our database slid to 26 from 27. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management owned 19.48 million Encana shares at the end of December.

Dreamworks Animation Skg Inc (NASDAQ:DWA)’s shares are rallying by 17% today, continuing the bullish sentiment registered in yesterday’s after-hours trading after the animation studio reported strong revenue growth and better-than-expected fourth quarter results. For the fourth quarter, Dreamworks Animation reported EPS of $0.55 on revenue of $319.34 million, the latter being an increase of 36.3% year-over-year. Those results exceeded earnings estimates by a robust $0.39 per share and revenue estimates by $45.32 million. Of the 730 funds that we track, 13 of them owned 32.6% of Dreamworks Animation Skg Inc (NASDAQ:DWA)’s stock at the end of December. Among the funds long the stock is Mason Hawkins’ Southeastern Asset Management with a holding of 16.14 million shares.

Finally, there is Papa John’s Int’l, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) whose shares are about 9% in the green after a profit beat in its latest financial results. For the fourth quarter, the Kentucky-based restaurant operator earned $0.62 per share on revenue of $416.82 million, beating estimates by $0.05 per share but missing on revenue by $8.94 million. The company’s management expects 2016 EPS of $2.30-to-$2.40 per share compared to the $2.38 figure Mr. Market is expecting. 17 funds reported ownership of Papa John’s Int’l, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) shares as of the end of December. Among the believers is Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies, with a holding of 1.07 million shares at the end of 2015.

Disclosure: None