Here’s Why These Five Stocks Are on Investors’ Radars on Monday

The US stock market is opened higher but has lost ground so far on Monday amid an increase in oil prices and bigger-than-expected fall in exports from China.

Amid the stocks that are in the spotlight today are Mattress Firm Holding Corp (NASDAQ:MFRM), Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL), Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV), Ebix Inc (NASDAQ:EBIX), and Sothebys (NYSE:BID). In this article, let’s take a closer look at the latest events surrounding these stocks and assess the hedge fund sentiment towards them.

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Mattress Firm Holding Corp (NASDAQ:MFRM) has surged by over 114% after retail giant Steinhoff International Holdings NV announced that it will buy the company for $64 per share or a total of $2.4 billion. Steinhoff, a South African retailer engaged in selling furniture is making its foray into the US market for the first time. Investors cheered the news considering that the buyout offer is at a premium of 115% to Mattress Firm Holding’s closing price on Friday. Among the investors we track, shares of Mattress Firm Holding Corp (NASDAQ:MFRM) were held by 18 funds at the end of March. These funds amassed $459.04 million worth of stock which represented 30.70% of the float.

Next stock on the radar is Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) which is in the spotlight after a system outage grounded Delta flights around the globe. The company updated its customers that the system was back online, but warned that delays and cancellations are expected. Nevertheless, the stock didn’t react significantly to the news and has inched down slightly in Monday intraday trading. Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) saw 97 investors from our database holding shares at the end of first quarter, compared to 108 funds at the end of 2015.

On the next page, we are going to look into Southwest Airlines, Ebix, and Sothebys.

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)’s stock has declined by 0.70% so far on Monday, after the company responded to demands from labor groups, who called for ousting of the Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly and Chief Operating Officer Mike Van de Ven. The company’s board stated that the executives will not resign and directors don’t intend to remove them. Labor groups stated that both top executives should leave the company due to non-up gradation of reservation system which resulted in flight disruptions, while  the company was focusing on buybacks and cost reduction. Southwest Airlines. Nevertheless, Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) said it will invest $500 million in a new reservation system for domestic flights over next three years. At the end of March, 58 funds tracked by Insider Monkey held shares of Southwest Airlines, compared to 52 funds a quarter earlier.

Ebix Inc (NASDAQ:EBIX)’s stock is trading down today after the company released its second-quarter results. The company posted EPS of $0.70, higher than estimates of $0.63, while revenue of $72.57 million topped the estimates of $71.2 million. In a statement,  Ebix Chairman, President, and CEO Robin Raina said, “Ebix achieved record revenues in Q2 2016. Our balanced focus on operating margins and growing our top line enabled Ebix to deliver 14% year over year constant currency revenue growth while improving Q2 operating margins by 90 basis points. We have a strong pipeline of large value organic growth prospects today, and are excited by the opportunities we see ahead of us.” The company added that it will finish due diligence for acquisition of Patriot National by August 31. Among the investors in the Insider Monkey database, 12 funds reported positions in Ebix Inc (NASDAQ:EBIX) as of the end of March.

Another stock trending on the back of second-quarter results is Sothebys (NYSE:BID), whose shares  have surged by around 15% so far today. The company’s revenue came in at $298.67 million, against analysts’ estimates of $291.22 million, while EPS of $1.51 was significantly above expectations of $1.05. “While we would certainly prefer to see a stronger art market, we are pleased with the progress we have been making on our strategic initiatives and the beneficial changes to our team and organization,” said Tad Smith, Sotheby’s President, and Chief Executive Officer. At the end of March, 22 funds tracked by us held shares of Sothebys (NYSES:BID) with a total value of $574.12 million at the end of first quarter of 2016.

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