Here’s Why These Five Stocks Are on the Move on Thursday

The US stock market is mixed, yet flattish, on Thursday afternoon, as investors await Friday’s payrolls data. “Today is more of a consolidation of positions. Perhaps taking some chips off the table ahead of tomorrow’s jobs number,” Tony Bedikian, head of global markets at Citizens Bank explained.

Among individual stocks on the move are Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (USA) (NYSE:CP), Canadian Natural Resource Ltd (USA) (NYSE:CNQ), Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (USA) (NASDAQ:TSEM), Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) and Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN). In this article we will take a look into the events behind the movement of these stocks, and into what the funds in our database think about them.

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Canadian Pacific Tumbles On Pershing Departure

Let’s start with Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (USA) (NYSE:CP), which has tumbled 2.65% on Thursday trading, after Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square (and affiliated funds) announced it will be liquidating its stake in the company. The firm will commence a public offering of all of its 9.84 million shares, valued at approximately $1.5 billion. “Canadian Pacific has completed an incredible transformation since our initial investment in 2011,” Ackman explained. “Hunter Harrison and Keith Creel have restored to greatness one of North America’s top railroads and have set the company on the path to continued success,” he added. Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (USA) (NYSE:CP) saw the number of hedge funds in our database long its stock surge by 24% to 36 during the first quarter.

Canadian Natural Resource Little Changed After Earnings

Next up is Canadian Natural Resource Ltd (USA) (NYSE:CNQ), which has gained 0.7% today, following the announcement of the company’s second quarter financial results. Before the bell rang this morning, the firm posted a net loss of CAD 0.19 ($0.15), compared to estimates of a loss of CAD 0.20, while revenue of CAD 2.55 billion beat estimates by CAD 750 million. While lower commodity prices were somewhat offset by a 14% decline in overall operating costs, cash flow from operations plummeted by 38% year-over-year to CAD 938 million. Management also declared a quarterly dividend of CAD 0.23 per share, in line with the previous payout. At the end of the first quarter, Canadian Natural Resource Ltd (USA) (NYSE:CNQ) saw 23 funds among those we track holding shares.

Strong Results Help Tower Semiconductor Rise

Also up on its earnings report was Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (USA) (NASDAQ:TSEM), which has spiked by more than 14.25% today, after posting a top and bottom line beat. Second-quarter EPS of $0.45 and revenue of $305 million came in $0.11 and $5 million, respectively, ahead of the Street’s expectations. The company said results were helped by an early payment of bank loans and the acquisition of a plant in the US. For the ongoing quarter, management said it expects revenue of $325 million, up by 33% year-over-year, and above the Street’s consensus of $310 million. Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (USA) (NASDAQ:TSEM) saw 19 funds among those we keep track of holding shares at the end of March. Among them was Richard Mashaal’s Senvest Management, which last disclosed ownership of 6.6 million shares, or about $80 million in stock.

Chesapeake Sinks After Earnings Report

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) is trading down by 1.6% after the company reported a second quarter net loss of $0.14, versus estimates of a loss of $0.11, and revenue of $1.6 billion, $330 million below consensus. Also impacting the stock negatively was the announcement of an increase in its asset sales target, from $1.2 billion-$1.7 billion to $2 billion, and the company’s intention to sell “selected” acreage in its Haynesville Shale properties. Finally, management boosted its full-year production guidance by 3%, and said it expects capex close to the higher end of its previously provided guidance of $1.3 billion to $1.8 billion. Among the funds we track, 31 were long Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) at the end of the first quarter. Among them we can count Carl Icahn’s Icahn Capital LP, which last reported owning more than 73 million shares of the company.

Sunoco Hit By Revenue Miss, Downgrade

Finally, there’s Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN), which has plummeted by more than 7.7%, following the announcement of the company’s second quarter financial results. While EPS of $0.53 beat the Street’s consensus by $0.08, revenue of $4.05 billion, down 21.1% year-over-year, was $80 million below expectations. Probably pushing the stock down as well was a downgrade from Baird, which demoted the shares to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Outperform’. A total of 11 investors among those we track held long equity stakes in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) as of March 31. The largest was held by Charles Davidson’s Wexford Capital, which owned 447,424 shares.

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no interest in any of the securities or entities mentioned above.