George Soros’ Top New Stock Picks Include Charles Schwab Corp (SCHW), Alcoa Inc (AA)

Soros Fund Management initiated a new position in Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) worth $59.53 million and consisting of 5.34 million shares of the company. Alcoa is involved in the engineering and manufacturing of lightweight metals such as aluminum, titanium, and nickel. It has been a difficult year so far for the company, with its shares dropping by 40.63% year-to-date. It is quite possible that Soros Fund Management initiated its new position believing them to be discounted due to the current weakness in commodity prices. Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) fell slightly short of Wall Street’s earnings expectations for the second quarter, with reported earnings per share of $0.19 against expectations of $0.22, although its revenue of $5.9 billion was above the market’s estimate of $5.81 billion. On a year-over-year basis, its revenue improved by 1% and earnings were up by 16% in comparison with the prior-year quarter. David E. Shaw’s D E Shaw holds a significant investment in the company worth $62.80 million from 5.63 million shares of  Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA).

NRG Energy Inc (NYSE:NRG) is a power company with nearly 52,000 MWs of energy generation which operates through its different subsidiaries. Soros Fund Management gained more exposure to the energy sector with this addition to its portfolio, which amounts to 2.52 million shares worth $57.68 million. NRG Energy Inc (NYSE:NRG) reported lower-than-expected second quarter results, with a loss per share of $0.06 over revenues of $3.40 billion. The market was expecting earnings per share of $0.06 over revenues of $3.69 billion. In terms of analysts ratings, the shares of NRG Energy have received an average rating of “Buy” with a short term price target of $31.14, representing an upside of nearly 50%. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management has a large position in NRG Energy Inc (NYSE:NRG) of 9.51 million shares valued at $217.67 million.

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