GE, PepsiCo, PPG Industries, and More: Here’s Why These Five Stocks Are Trending

Although the U.S. dollar remains strong, the stocks of emerging markets have performed well recently as investors become more bullish on global growth prospects. Given the strength of the emerging markets, it’s not surprising that the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ futures are each in the green in the pre-market.

In this column, let’s take a closer look at the events causing five stocks, Macquarie Infrastructure Corp (NYSE:MIC), PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG), General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), Intercontinental Exchange Inc (NYSE:ICE), and PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP), to trend. Let’s also use the latest 13F data to determine smart money sentiment toward the equities.

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Macquarie Infrastructure Corp (NYSE:MIC) is trending after Tristan Richardson of SunTrust gave the company the thumbs up, setting a $96 price target and initiating a ‘Buy’ rating. Richardson’s recommendation is in stark contrast to Hedgeye’s opinion in late January, where the ratings firm named Macquarie Infrastructure as one of its short ideas. Of the 742 elite funds we track, 42 funds owned $905.34 million of Macquarie Infrastructure Corp (NYSE:MIC) and accounted for 13.50% of the float on December 31, versus 45 funds and $1.06 billion respectively on September 30.

Traders are watching PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) after Bloomberg reported that the company is said to be ‘preparing a renewed takeover bid’ for Europe’s largest coatings maker, Akzo Nobel NV. Akzo previously rejected PPG’s earlier offer of around $22.4 billion earlier this month, saying that PPG’s offer undervalued it. Bulls hope that PPG can realize enough synergies from any Akzo deal to make the merger worthwhile. 32 elite funds were long PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) at the end of December, down 2 funds from the previous quarter.

General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) is on watch after the Handelsblatt reported that the conglomerate plans on investing half a billion dollars in GE Healthcare over the next three years. The money will go to beefing up the segment’s digital operations and potentially for acquiring outside data analysis firms. Given that IT can increase efficiency markedly, bulls hope that GE’s investment will more than pay for itself and increase margins in the long run. The number of elite funds with holdings in General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) fell by 1 quarter-over-quarter to 54 at the end of December.

On the next page, we examine why the spotlight is shining on Intercontinental Exchange Inc, and PepsiCo Inc.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc (NYSE:ICE), which owns the NYSE, is in the spotlight after a glitch occurred late Monday that affected the closing trading of several major exchange-traded funds including the SPDR Gold Trust ETF. Given that the NYSE has strong network effects, traders don’t seem to think the glitch is a big deal, at least according to the extended market reaction so far. 42 top funds were long Intercontinental Exchange Inc (NYSE:ICE) at the end of December, down 5 funds from the previous quarter.

PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) is in the green in the pre-market today after Andrea Teixeira of JPMorgan gave the soft drink maker the thumbs up, initiating an ‘Overweight’ rating and a $125 price target. Although bears remain concerned about potential soda-taxes in various cities, bulls like PepsiCo’s growth prospects and the company’s stock is currently hovering around a 52 week high. 51 elite funds had a bullish position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) as of the most recent 13-F reporting period, down 6 funds from the previous quarter.

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