Here’s Why McDonald’s, Starbucks, Newfield Exploration and Two Other Stocks Are in Spotlight Today

Judge Gives Green Signal to Sue Starbucks Corporation

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) is in hot water after the U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson in San Francisco said on Friday that the California plaintiffs, who had accused the Seattle-based company of short-changing customers by underfilling lattes, may proceed with a lawsuit against the company. The plaintiffs had proposed a nationwide class action against Starbucks Corporation. The company is accused of knowingly cheating its customers by serving lattes that are 25% smaller than the standard size. Among the investors in our database, 52 funds held stakes in Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) at the end of the first quarter, down from 61 funds a quarter earlier. Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital owns approximately 5.71 million shares of the company.

Post Holdings ConAgra Foods Frozen Potato Business May Merge

Investors are watching Post Holdings Inc (NYSE:POST)and ConAgra Foods Inc (NYSE:CAG) closely today after several reports claimed that the companies are in talks regarding a $6 billion merger of Post Holdings and ConAgra Foods’ Lamb Weston frozen potato products unit. The Wall Street Journal reports that the talks have now “stalled” but could be initiated again. Last year, ConAgra announced its plans to spin off the potato business. Jason Karp’s Tourbillon Capital Partners is one of 34 funds tracked by us that reported stakes in Post Holdings Inc (NYSE:POST) as of the end of March. On the other hand, 39 funds held shares of ConAgra Foods Inc (NYSE:CAG).

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