Here’s Why These Five Stocks Are in Spotlight Today

It’s another calm day on Wall Street as the Dow Jones index is up by just 6 points and the S&P 500 is 0.08% in the red. Among the stocks that traders are talking about for various reasons today are Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE:RCL), Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:NCLH), Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), and Abeona Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ABEO).

In this article, we will examine why each stock is in the spotlight and we will analyze the relevant hedge fund sentiment toward the stocks.

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Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE:RCL) and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:NCLH) are in the red by around 2% and 5%, respectively, after JPMorgan analyst Joseph Greff downgraded both stocks to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Overweight’. After doing extensive research on sector fundamentals such as GDP growth, spending trends, and capacity changes, Greff came to the conclusion that there will not be a ‘meaningful fundamental turn in net yields/pricing’ in the sector and that the two cruise operators’ earnings could come in below the Street’s expectations. As for Royal Caribbean specifically, Greff thinks the eroding net yields of the company’s China segment as well as the ongoing weakness in Europe will likely hurt results. Greff has a $73 price target on Royal Carribean Cruises, down from the previous $96. The analyst also has lowered its price target on Norwegian Cruise to $44 from $62, as he expects lower demand to also weigh on the company’s quarterly earnings. Of the 749 funds that Insider Monkey tracks, 26 were long Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:NCLH) and 39 owned shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE:RCL) at the end of June.

Abeona Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ABEO), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for life-threatening rare genetic diseases, is off by 2.6% after the biotech announced a public offering of 6.0 million shares at $7 a piece. In addition, the company has granted underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 900,000 shares of common stock. Abeona intends to use the net proceeds of the offering for working capital and general corporate purposes, including for the development of product candidates and general and administrative expenses. According to our records, nine funds owned $14.53 million worth of Abeona Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ABEO)’s stock, which represented 18.90% of the float on June 30, versus seven funds and $15.35 million, respectively, on March 31.

On the next page, we will discuss Exxon Mobil Corporation and Chevron Corporation.

Super-majors Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) and Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) are trending after the former announced a significant oil discovery in offshore Nigeria. According to Exxon, the discovery has a potential recoverable resource of between 500 million and 1 billion barrels of oil and spans portions of the contract areas of Oil Prospecting License 223 (OPL 223) and Oil Mining License 139 (OML 139). As the operator of OPL 223 and OML 139, Exxon holds a 27% interest and Chevron Nigeria Deepwater G Limited owns an equal amount. The president of ExxonMobil Exploration Company, Stephen M. Greenlee said: “We are encouraged by the results and will work with our partners and the government on future development plans”. Given the long lead times and the need to negotiate with the Nigerian government, production from the wells may take a while before hitting the market. At the end of June, 60 funds tracked by us held shares of Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) and 47 funds were long Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX).

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