Five Consumer Stocks Hedge Funds Like This Year

#3 Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ:KHC)

– Investors with Long Positions (as of December 31): 60

– Aggregate Value of Investors’ Holdings (as of December 31): $26.20 Billion

During the fourth trimester, the number of investors in our system long Kraft Heinz increased by four, while their aggregate investments rose by 1.2%. After the merger of Kraft and Heinz last year, Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ:KHC) underwent a series of cost cuts, as is characteristic of 3G Capital, the private equity firm that arranged the transaction. In his recent investor letter, Warren Buffett defended 3G’s moves, citing that those measures have been extraordinarily successful. David Palmer, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets believes that the balance sheet of the new company is stronger than either company enjoyed pre-merger. Buffett’s holding company Berkshire Hathaway, which helped finance the merger, holds more than 325.63 million shares of Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ:KHC) valued at 23.69 billion.

#2 Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE)

– Investors with Long Positions (as of December 31): 63

– Aggregate Value of Investors’ Holdings (as of December 31): $4.48 Billion

During the last three months of 2015, the number of investors holding Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) in their portfolios increased by 6.7%, with their aggregate holdings representing 2.3% of Nike’s outstanding float as of the end of December. Nike was recently in the news for severing ties with Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao after his anti-gay comments sparked outrage. The company is aiming to increase its e-commerce sales seven-fold to $7 billion over the next five years, in order to meet its revenue goal of $50 billion in 2020. In order to accelerate its online sales, Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) recently appointed its first Digital Officer, Adam Sussman. Alex Snow‘s Lansdowne Partners is the largest stockholder of Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) within our database, as it owns nearly 16.46 million shares valued at $1.03 billion.

#1 Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ)

– Investors with Long Positions (as of December 31): 67

– Aggregate Value of Investors’ Holdings (as of December 31): $5.35 Billion

The number of investors long Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) increased by three during the fourth quarter, while their aggregate investments shot up by about $484 million. In its third quarter of fiscal year 2016 ending in December, Constellation enjoyed depletion growth of more than 16%, which topped all U.S brewers, driven by Corona Extra and Modelo Especial, though nearly every one of the company’s brands delivered double digit depletion gains. Constellation Brands raised its outlook for the full 2016 fiscal year and is feverishly building a new 10 million hectoliter brewery in Mexico. The stock price of the $28.7 billion alcoholic beverage company is up by almost 26% over the last 12 months. Stephen Mandel‘s Lone Pine Capital upped its stake in Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) by 15% to 5.35 million shares during the October-to-December period.

Disclosure: None