Billionaire Israel Englander’s Millennium Management Is Betting on These Stocks to Change Its Fortune in 2017

Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS)

– Shares Held By Millennium Management (as of December 31): 2.26 Million

– Value of The Holding (as of December 31): $235.79 million

In the fourth quarter of 2016, Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) completed a decade of being a part of Millennium Management’s equity portfolio. During that quarter, the fund boosted its stake in the entertainment company by 154%, which helped in making Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) the fund’s tenth largest equity holding at the end of December. Amid a Trump rally in the broader market, Disney’s stock has appreciated by almost 18% since November last year. For its most recent quarter, the company reported EPS of $1.55 on revenue of $14.78 billion, which was lower than the EPS of $.163 on revenue of $15.24 billion it had reported for the same quarter last year. A large part of the year-over-year decline in the quarterly numbers was due to the poor performance of the ESPN business, which faced a double whammy of higher production costs and lower ad revenue during the quarter.

American Electric Power Company Inc (NYSE:AEP)

– Shares Held By Millennium Management (as of December 31): 6.3 Million

– Value of The Holding (as of December 31): $396.66 million

After having reduced its stake in American Electric Power Company Inc (NYSE:AEP) by 35% during the third quarter, Millennium Management boosted its holding in the utility company by 84%in the following three months. For long American Electric Power Company Inc (NYSE:AEP) has been considered one of the best performing utility companies with a track record of consistently hiking its dividends. Although AEP’s stock has been in correction mode since the second-half of 2016, most analysts continue to remain bullish on it. They argue that being a low volatility stock, AEP can deliver 5-7% annual returns (including dividends) for the next few years, making it an ideal bet for conservative investors.

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