Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM), PepsiCo, Inc. : Hedge Funds Are Yanking Capital Out of These Five Stocks

CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CVI) is another oil stock that saw an outflow of investors’ cash during the fourth quarter. Interestingly, the number of funds holding shares of the company went up to 14, from 9, but the aggregate value of the shares held by the funds decreased dramatically to $2.90 billion, from $6.40 billion in the previous quarter. Moreover, among all the funds that we track, only Carl Icahn, who has controlled CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CVI)  since 2012, owns a $2.86 billion stake in the company that contains 77.20 million shares, up by 6.0 million shares over the quarter. Therefore, other funds held much smaller stakes in the company at the end of 2014. However, a couple of weeks ago, the Securities and Exchange Commission initiated an investigation into the disclosures made by CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CVI)  during the takeover process, regarding the fees that have been paid to investment banks.

Aside from the energy sector, some consumer stocks have gone through a process of losing investors’ confidence. Most affected have been PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) and The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO), in which the aggregate value of shares held by funds from our database fell to $7.18 billion and $22.45 billion respectively, from $10.0 billion and $25.11 billion. Overall, 54 investors reported holding shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) , including nine billionaires such as Nelson Peltz, who owns 17.87 million shares and Ken Fisher with 5.12 million shares. In The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO), the number of investors holding shares went up to 58 funds from 57 a quarter earlier, with the largest stake held by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway, which disclosed a $16.89 billion stake containing 400.0 million shares in its latest 13F filing.

Both The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) and PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP)  struggled with a decline in sales volumes of soft drinks, especially in international markets. Another factor that had a negative impact on both companies’ last financial results was the weakening of foreign currencies in relation to the US dollar, as sales of both companies are highly-dependent on international markets. However, both companies have potential to perform better in the future. PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP)  is currently under pressure from Nelson Peltz, who is urging the company to split its soft drinks and snacks businesses, while The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) has announced some cost-cutting initiatives for the next several years.

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