Want to put your favorite consumer brands in your stock portfolio? The world?s richest hedge fund billionaires can provide some guidance.
Last week, we looked at the hedge fund titans? top U.S. trades in technology and healthcare sectors in the quarter ending June 30. We rank the top picks ? ten buys and ten sells ? based on the number of billionaires who bought or sold the stock in a material way (at least 10,000 shares), according to data from Whalewisdom.com. This time we are taking a look at the most popular buys and sells among consumer stocks.
With the latest wave of mergermania, a few major media companies have emerged on our top buy list. From Charter?s $55 billion bid for Time Warner Cable TWC -0.54% to T-Mobile?s merger talk with Dish Network, hedge fund billionaires seem to expect more consolidation in the pipeline. Surprisingly, Yum! Brands, which has struggled with slowing growth in China, attracted votes of confidence from hedge fund managers like Dan Loeb and Steve Cohen. Perhaps they are expecting a turnaround for some of America?s most famous fast food brands.
Our top sell list shows a more diverse collection of stocks. China?s slowdown has drawn concerns from top hedge fund billionaires about General Motors GM -3.57%, as the earnings growth for the automaker depends hugely on the world?s second largest economy. MGM Resorts MGM +0.00% has also been on a losing streak with 17% drop over the past year, as casinos falter in Chinese government?s anticorruption crackdown. Some prominent American brands, such as SeaWorld and Abercrombie, have continued to struggle with changing consumer tastes.
