Why Boeing, Jabil Circuit and Three Financial Stocks Are Making Headlines on Thursday

All eyes are on the September 26-28 informal OPEC meeting today as traders look for future catalysts that might decide where the broader indexes might head next.

Among the stocks that traders are also watching are Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), Jabil Circuit, Inc. (NYSE:JBL), Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC), E*TRADE Financial Corp (NASDAQ:ETFC), and Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC). Let’s find out why each stock is making headlines and see what the smart money investors from our database think about the companies in question.

Hedge fund sentiment is an important metric for assessing the long-term profitability. At Insider Monkey, we track over 740 hedge funds, whose quarterly 13F filings we analyze and determine their collective sentiment towards several thousand stocks. However, our research has shown that the best strategy is to follow hedge funds into their small-cap picks. This approach can allow monthly returns of nearly 95 basis points above the market, as we determined through extensive backtests covering the period between 1999 and 2012 (see the details here).

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It looks like Iranians will be flying on more Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) jetliners in the future, as Reuters has reported that the U.S. government granted Boeing a license to export jetliners to Iran for the first time in several decades. With the ban dropped, Boeing will be able to finalize the sale over 100 planes it previously agreed to sell in a memorandum of agreement the manufacturer struck with Iran Air earlier this year. Boeing bulls hope that the sales will be the first of many more to come in the next decades. Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson‘s Adage Capital Management raised its stake in Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) by 23% in the second quarter to over 1.1 million shares.

Jabil Circuit, Inc. (NYSE:JBL) is in the spotlight after the company reported earnings of $0.28 per share on revenue of $4.43 billion for its fiscal fourth quarter, beating the average analyst estimate by $0.03 per share and $160 million. Sales fell by 5.3% year-over-year and the management announced their intention to realign the company’s capacity and administrative support infrastructure to adjust to the more moderate growth climate. Jabil Circuit, Inc. (NYSE:JBL) expects the realignment to cost $195 million over the next two years. The company expects core diluted EPS of $0.54 to $0.74 on revenue of $4.8 billion to $5 billion for the first quarter of fiscal year 2017. Of the around 749 funds we track, 21 owned $259.31 million worth of Jabil Circuit, Inc. (NYSE:JBL)’s stock, which accounted for 7.30% of the float on June 30.

On the next page, we examine Wells Fargo & Co, E*TRADE Financial Corp, and Bank of America Corp.