Today's stocks to watch in the news include Winnebago Industries, Inc. (WGO), HP Inc (HPQ), and QEP Resources Inc (QEP)
U.S. stocks are up slightly, a day after Fed Chair Janet Yellen warned about
the effects that "Brexit" could have for the economy. Among equities in focus today are RV manufacturer
Winnebago Industries, Inc. (NYSE:WGO), tech stock
HP Inc (NYSE:HPQ), and oil-and-gas stock
QEP Resources Inc (NYSE:QEP).
- WGO is up 5.7% at $22.84, after beating fiscal third-quarter earnings and revenue forecasts. Winnebago Industries, Inc. President and CEO Michael Happe cited "continued strong growth in our towables business, combined with a moderate climb in our motorized shipments" for the strong sales. This latest jump puts WGO up 13.8% for the year, though the stock is struggling to break out of a channel of lower highs and lows since early 2014. Similar to last June, short sellers may be concerned, with 11.8% of the stock's float sold short -- an amount that would take over 18 days of trading, at WGO's average daily volume, to cover.
- HPQ is down 3.6% at $12.85, despite raising its third-quarter earnings guidance and discussing plans to use proceeds from a software sale to invest in print. Further, Deutsche Bank subsequently upped its price target on HPQ to $15 from $12. Despite today's dip, HP Inc is up 43.9% since hitting a two-year low in February. Option traders have been especially bearish, though, with HPQ's 50-day put/call volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) of 2.82 sitting higher than 94% of all other readings taken in the past 12 months. Should HPQ resume its year-to-date rally, a mass exodus of option bears could add fuel to the stock's fire.
- QEP is down 6.8% at $18.01, after the company announced it would be purchasing land in Texas' Permian Basin to the tune of $600 million, funded by a 20-million-share offering. With oil price hovering near $50 per barrel, QEP Resources Inc is hoping to take advantage of the region's oil-leaden shale formations. Analysts seem to have faith in the stock -- which, prior to today, had outperformed the greater S&P 500 Index (SPX) by 41 percentage points over the last 60 sessions -- with 11 out of 14 rating it a "buy" or better, without a single "sell" to be found.
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