Thursday’s Top Trending Tickers: CAB, PGR, CY, SJM, GE

Wall Street is in bull mode again, as all three indexes have opened well in the green and crude futures are up by more than 1.4%. In this article, we’ll take a look at why five equities: Cabelas Inc (NYSE:CAB), Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:CY), J M Smucker Co (NYSE:SJM), General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), and Progressive Corp (NYSE:PGR), are garnering a lot of interest this morning and use SEC filings to see what hedge funds think of each stock.

Our research has shown that the best strategy is to follow hedge funds into their small-cap picks. This approach can allow monthly returns of nearly 95 basis points above the market, as we determined through extensive backtests covering the period between 1999 and 2012 (see the details here).

Cabela’s Shares Rise 3.8% on NY Post Story

According to the New York Post, Cabelas Inc (NYSE:CAB) is close to selling itself to Bass Pro Shops and Goldman Sachs. The auction of Cabela’s is expected to close in days, and previous potential bidders such as private equity firms TPG Capital and Apax Partners have dropped out. Although Cabela’s has declined to sell itself to Bass Pro in the past, it may have no choice given market expectations and activist pressure. If the two combine, Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shops would form the largest seller of outdoor hunting gear in the United States. According to our database of 766 active funds, the number of smart money funds with holdings in Cabelas Inc (NYSE:CAB) rose by one quarter-over-quarter to 23 as of the end of March.

Cypress Considering Strategic Alternatives

Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:CY) shares have soared by 5% after Betaville reported that the company turned down a $14 per share offer from Chinese private equity firm Summitview Capital around three weeks ago. Apparently, Cypress management wanted a higher price and the company has hired Goldman Sachs to aid it as it considers its strategic options. As many as three private equity firms could be interested in bidding for the company. 13 funds that we track owned shares of Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:CY) at the end of March.

On the next page, we’ll dig into the details of why J M Smucker, General Electric, and Progressive Corp are trending this morning.
J M Smucker Raises Dividend

Although the company might be a boring consumer staple, J M Smucker Co (NYSE:SJM) shareholders have something to cheer about today, as the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.75 per share from $0.67 per share. At current prices, the quarterly dividend translates to a forward yield of almost 2%, which is almost one-third higher than the current 10-year Treasury yield. 27 funds in our database owned shares of J M Smucker Co (NYSE:SJM) at the end of the first quarter, a dip of three funds from the end of the fourth quarter of 2015.

GE Joint Venture Reports Big Contract Wins

General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) shares have inched up by 0.7% in morning trading after CFM International, GE’s joint venture with France’s Safran, reported winning deals worth $8.2 billion at an airshow. The deals include long-term service agreements, orders, and commitments for 565 jet engines. General Electric shares have rallied by 5.5% year-to-date, largely on the back of broader market strength and news that the GE Capital unit is no longer too big to fail. Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway owned more than 10 million shares of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) at the end of March.

Progressive Reports Earnings

Progressive Corp (NYSE:PGR) shares have inched up by half-a-percentage-point after the insurer reported in-line earnings of $0.33 per share and better than expected revenue of $5.93 billion for the second quarter. Net premiums written rose by 13% year-over-year, while the company’s combined ratio rose by 4.3 points to 96.8. Book value per share was $13.47 at the end of June. Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies increased its position in Progressive Corp (NYSE:PGR) by 504% to 1.70 million shares as of the end of the first quarter.

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