Many stocks moved higher after the closing bell yesterday as the market closed higher. Two such stocks which gained big in the after-hours session were Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) and Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC), though only one of them has been able to sustain its momentum. In addition to the news that sparked this after-hours movement, we will also take a look at the hedge fund sentiment surrounding these stocks in order to assess the long-term potential of these companies.
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Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) jumped by more than 3% in the after-hours session following the news that the gas and chemical provider is planning to spin off its material technologies business through a tax-free spin-off to its shareholders. This separation is expected to happen within the next year. The intention behind the spin-off is to enhance the competitive positions of the industrial gases and material technologies businesses in their respective sectors. However, despite the markets generally loving spin-offs, shares of Air Products and Chemicals have been unable to maintain their momentum, and are trading up by just 0.11% in morning trading.
Hedge funds opted to pull some capital out of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) during the second quarter, as there were 76 hedge with a total investment worth $8.64 billion in the stock at the end of June. There were 83 hedge funds with shares worth $9.94 billion at the end of March. Considering the fact that the stock had depreciated by around 9.5% during the April – June period we can say that the hedge funds did also pull some capital out of the stock. It is also important to note that as of June, hedge funds that we track held around 29.4% of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)’s total outstanding shares. Among the hedge funds we track, billionaire Bill Ackman‘s Pershing Square continued to remain bullish on this stock, as the hedge fund held around 20.5 million shares valued at $2.8 billion at the end of June. On the heels of Pershing Square is Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global and Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management, with 5.9 million shares and 5.7 million shares respectively.
Let’s take a look at Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC), which jumped by around 16% in after-hours trading following the announcement of its acquisition by France-based Altice SA for $17.7 billion. Excluding Cablevision Systems Corporation’s debt, Altice will pay around $10 billion or $34.9 per share in cash to acquire Cablevision. This represents 22% upside from the closing price on Wednesday. Year-to-date, the stock had gained around 35% before the acquisition announcement. Cablevision has been able to sustain its momentum, unsurprisingly, and still trades up by just under 16%.
Hedge funds remained bullish on Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC) during the second quarter, as there were 24 hedge funds with net investments totaling $863.8 million in the stock at the end of June. Despite the fact there were four more hedge funds holding long positions in the stock at the end of March, the net investments by these hedge funds was just $550.4 million at that time. The stock did appreciate by around 30% during the second trimester, but hedge funds also added a large amount of shares to their portfolios collectively. Overall, hedge funds that we track held around 16.3% of the company’s outstanding shares. Among the hedge funds that we track, John Paulson‘s Paulson & Co owned 12.4 million shares valued at $296.8 million on June 30. Other bullish hedge fund managers included Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors and Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies, holding around 11.5 million shares and 1.5 million shares respectively.
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