Why Are These Four Stocks Declining on Monday?

The stock of food retailer Sprouts Farmers Market Inc (NASDAQ:SFM) has declined by 10% amid growing concerns of rising competition from bigger retailers, such as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT), which are increasing their offerings of organic products, eating into the market share of organic food retailers like Sprouts Farmers Market Inc (NASDAQ:SFM). Another stock that plunged today for the same reason is Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM), which we covered earlier today (see article). However, Whole Foods’ stock has lost only 5% so far, and hedge funds from our database are more bullish on it than they are on Sprouts Farmers Market. Only 14 funds from our database reported long stakes in Sprouts Farmers Market, as compared with 32 investors that held positions in Whole Foods at the end of June.

Last but not least is Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc (NYSE:HLX), whose stock has fallen by 9%, extending the decline of the last couple of days, which have offset the 26% surge registered on October 20 on the back of positive financial results. Last week, the Street downgraded the stock to ‘Sell’ from ‘Hold’ citing concerns regarding the company’s prospects, which are being affected by falling net income and weak return on equity (ROE), among other things. Helix’s ROE is indeed small, as it currently stands at around 2.1% for the trailing 12-month period, almost half the industry average. Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc (NYSE:HLX)’s stock is 73% in the red year-to-date and the sentiment among the funds from our database is weak, with only 15 reporting long positions equal to 7% of the company’s float as of the end of June.

Disclosure: None