PepsiCo, LendingClub, Tempur Sealy and More Are Turning Heads This Morning

Vodafone Gains Control of Sky Network in New Zealand

Telecom giant Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:VOD) is trending after it agreed to merge its New Zealand division with Sky Network. The combination will amount to a $2.4 billion merger that could yield substantial synergies and help Vodafone gain more exposure to online video and TV. When all is said and done, Vodafone will have a 51% stake in the combination. Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies was long almost 2.00 million shares of Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:VOD) at the end of March.

United Continental Reports Critical Metric

United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL) disclosed that its revenue passenger miles retreated by 0.5% year-over-year in May, hampered by the strong dollar and low energy prices, which negatively affected United’s oil sector customers. Capacity was up by 0.9% and the company’s load factor for the month fell by 140 basis points to 82.5%. United expects second quarter consolidated passenger unit revenue to retreat by 6.5%-to-8.5%. Shares of United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL) are nevertheless up by 1.6%, mainly due to the lower crude spot prices today. Cliff Asness‘ AQR Capital Management owned more than 5.00 million United Continental shares as of the latest 13F reporting period.

Tempur Sealy Ups Its Buyback Authorization

Tempur Sealy International Inc (NYSE:TPX)’s board of directors raised the company’s buyback authorization by $200 million to $205 million, noting the authorization bump was consistent with the company’s long-term strategy of returning excess cash to shareholders when appropriate. Despite the good news, shares of Tempur Sealy International Inc (NYSE:TPX) are 3.2% lower as the broader market weakness weighs on demand. 33 top funds in our system owned $1.21 billion worth of Tempur Sealy shares at the end of March.

Disclosure: None