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Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Veteran fund manager resets stock market forecast amid Musk, Trump fallout
Put two mercurial personalities in the room, add competing goals and a hefty dose of media pressure, and what do you get? Let's just say that the high-profile friend-to-foe saga isn't overly surprising. Elon Musk and Donald Trump are polarizing figures with a penchant for dropping verbal bombshells, and that was particularly evident this week as the two sparred over the Big Beautiful bill, electric vehicle credits, and debt. The rift may shock some, however, given how closely Musk and Trump worked together over the past year. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter Musk spent hundreds of millions helping elect Donald Trump as president, and Trump rewarded Musk with a high-profile role in his administration as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Trump even went so far as to host a Tesla showroom on the White House lawn to support Musk after Musk's political activism caused a drop in Tesla's sales. One person who wasn't the least bit surprised by the high-profile dust-up was veteran hedge fund manager Doug Kass. Back in December, Kass picked the break-up as one of his top 15 surprises for 2025. It was far from the only correct forecast for Kass. He also predicted a stock market reckoning could cause the S&P 500 to fall 15%, and in April, he accurately forecast that stocks would find their footing after the brutal sell-off. Kass recently revisited his take on Musk and Trump, and how stocks may react to their fallout. His S&P 500 outlook may disappoint many, while his take on Trump and Musk might surprise most. After back-to-back 20% gains in the S&P 500 in 2023 and 2024, including an impressive 24% return last year, investors may have complacently expected more good times in 2025. Then reality set in. The stock market has whipsawed amid a series of shocks, many delivered by President Trump and Elon Musk, via his high-profile and much-debated cost-cutting at DOGE. Related: Elon Musk latest message sends Tesla stock surging Stocks came into 2025 arguably priced to perfection. Optimism for a friendly Federal Reserve shift in monetary policy to dovish interest rate cuts and a flood of artificial intelligence spending fueled big returns last year, pushing the S&P 500's price-to-earnings ratio north of 22. Historically, returns following high P/E ratios have been largely lackluster. That point wasn't lost on Kass, who correctly said in December that the S&P 500 could drop 15% in 2025. "Surprise #9: In 2025, the S&P Index falls by about 15%. The technology-laden Nasdaq drops by over 20%," wrote Kass. Kass beat the bearish drum continuously through February, when the S&P 500 reversed after hitting all-time highs. From mid-February through early April, bombshells in the form of shockingly high tariff announcements from President Trump and job losses stemming from Musk's DOGE efforts caused the benchmark index to plummet. At its worst, the S&P 500 fell 19%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell about 24%. The sharp drop was painful, and many hit the sell button, worried that an endless stream of uncertainty would cause even greater losses. Kass, however, correctly reversed course, making bargain-basement buys on the indexes and tech leaders, including Amazon, near the lows. Since then, Trump's pause on tariffs and potential for trade deals that ease the tariffs' bite have helped fuel a dramatic recovery, lifting the S&P 500 by 20%. More Economic Analysis: Hedge-fund manager sees U.S. becoming GreeceA critical industry is slamming the economyReports may show whether the economy is toughing out the tariffs The result has been a nausea-inspiring roller coaster ride for buy-and-hold investors. That's been particularly true for Tesla (TSLA) shareholders. The EV company rallied after Trump's election amid hope that Musk's White House connections would pave the way to sales growth. Instead, Musk's DOGE efforts, and arguably controversial political comments, caused a mass exodus of left-leaning Tesla buyers. Sales cratered in key markets, including Europe and California, the largest U.S. auto market. In Europe, Tesla sales dropped 49% year-over-year in April to 7,261 vehicles, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. In California, Tesla registrations fell 21.5% year-over-year in the first quarter, while non-Tesla electric vehicle (EV) registrations grew 14%. Tesla's stock price got hammered as a result, falling 54% from mid-December highs to early April lows. It's since recovered alongside the broad market, jumping 35%, largely on news Elon Musk would step away from DOGE. Doug Kass has seen a thing or two. His career stretches back into the 1970s at money manager Putnam, including a stint as research director for billionaire Leon Cooperman's Omega Advisors. His deep experience navigating markets professionally means he had a front-row seat to his share of political, economic, and stock market surprises. He witnessed Richard Nixon's Watergate implosion, the inflation-riddled 70s, the Savings & Loan crisis, the Internet boom and bust, hanging chads, the housing-bubble-driven Great Financial Recession, Trump presidency version 1.0, Covid, and the recent inflation shock and recovery. Related: Veteran strategist unveils updated gold price forecast Every December, he tests that experience with his "surprises" list for the coming year. This year, in addition to predicting the S&P 500 sell-off, he forecast the unfriendly end of the Trump-Musk relationship. "Surprise #2: The 'other' romance, between Trump/Musk, doesn't make it past spring 2025," wrote Kass. "National protests and demonstrations emerge and demands from a wide array of members of both the Republican and Democratic parties (including conservatives and liberals) call for 'ousting' Elon Musk, an unelected official, from playing such a dominant role in the U.S. government." Kass's Musk prediction is a longer read, but the gist is simple: Musk and Trump will suffer a fallout, which may have consequences for investors. He revisited his outlook, offering a new take on the Trump-Musk situation. "Right in front of us, it is obvious that political positions of influence can easily be bought-sold by both parties (and that certainly includes the presidency)," wrote Kass. "I am not even sure where the performance ends and reality begins. In the end (probably sooner than later) - just like the president's opening salvos of ridiculously high tariff proposals - the two actors will likely have a detente (and kiss and make up) because the downside is certain for both of them, as no one will win. When that make-up happens, no one knows. It could happen today, next week or next month, but the parties' 'interests' are now so enmeshed that Musk and Trump recognize where their bread is buttered." A potential "easing" of tensions would be welcome, given that a long-term tit-for-tat would fuel market volatility. Still, Kass's view of what happens to the stock market next isn't encouraging. "Never in my investing career has there been so many possible social, political, geopolitical, economic, interest rates and fiscal policy outcomes (many of which are adverse). That is why I don't understand the uber confidence expressed by the Perma Bull cabal (led by Fundstrat's Tom Lee) and manifested in a near-vertical move higher for equities over the last two months," continued Kass. "With a forward PE of 22x, equities remain overvalued and, after covering my Index shorts yesterday, I plan to reshort any rally." If Kass is correct that instability will force stocks lower, how low could it go, and when might things improve? "I see seven lean months ahead for our markets. We estimate downside risk to be roughly 3x the upside reward," concludes Kass. Related: Veteran fund manager who predicted April rally updates S&P 500 forecast The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (CALM): A Cheap Dividend Stock Being Targeted by Short Sellers
We recently published a list of the 25 Cheap Dividend Stocks Being Targeted by Short Sellers. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) stands against other cheap dividend stocks. Short sellers — investors who profit from falling stock prices —are seeing a surge in success in 2025. They gained $159 billion in paper profits over just six trading sessions as escalating trade tensions triggered a drop of more than 10% in the US stock market. The sharp market decline, the steepest since 2022, followed President Donald Trump's announcement of broad global tariffs. According to S3 Partners LLC, the most lucrative short position during this period was against the SPY ETF, which tracks the S&P Index. Traders betting against this fund have racked up over $6.1 billion in paper gains so far this month, based on an April 8 report from S3. Short sellers could profit from the sharp intraday market swings that wiped out trillions in value, though their actual gains will depend on when they close their positions. S3 data showed that another $46 billion in new short bets were added in April, raising the risk that these bearish positions could intensify the market's next major move, particularly if the current downturn reverses and pushes major indexes higher. Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of predictive analytics at S3, made the following comment: 'Overall, the short side was an extraordinarily profitable trade up and down the market during this correction. 81% of every short trade was profitable and 97% of every dollar shorted was a profitable trade.' Another report from S&P Dow Jones Indices noted that the average short interest in US stocks rose to 87 basis points over the past month. The biggest jumps were observed in the Automobiles sector, which climbed by 11 basis points, followed by a 10 basis-point increase in the Commercial and Professional Services sector, and a 9 basis-point rise in the Food and Beverage sector. Although dividend-paying stocks are generally considered more stable than growth stocks, they have still been subject to short selling throughout history. In their 1998 study Who Trades Around the Ex-Dividend Day?, Jennifer Lynch Koski and John T. Scruggs found unusual trading patterns leading up to the ex-dividend date. They suggested that security dealers might short a stock while it still includes the dividend and then repurchase it after the ex-dividend date if they expect the stock's price drop to be larger than the dividend amount. Similarly, in their research paper Tax-Induced Trading Around Ex-Dividend Days, Josef Lakonishok and Theo Vermaelen observed unusual levels of short selling on and shortly after the ex-dividend date. They found that this activity tends to be more pronounced in stocks offering higher dividend yields. Their findings suggest that short sellers aim to minimize the typical price drop that often follows the ex-dividend date. A close-up of an organic egg being carefully washed and inspected before being packaged. For this article, we screened for dividend stocks with more than 3% of their float sold short, using data from Yahoo Finance recorded on April 15. From that group, we picked stocks with dividend yields above 3%, as of April 28. Companies offering high dividend yields are often more likely to attract the attention of short sellers. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of their short % of float. At Insider Monkey, we are obsessed with hedge funds. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (). Short % of Float as of April 15: 17.06% Dividend Yield as of April 28: 8.11% Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) is the leading producer and distributor of fresh shell eggs in the US. The company has been under pressure lately as several major shareholders have decided to sell their stakes. On April 16, the company announced that the four daughters of its late founder, Fred R. Adams, Jr., along with his son-in-law, plan to offload nearly 3 million shares. At current market prices, the total value of the shares would be just under $280 million. However, the insiders are offering the shares at a discounted price of $92.75 each. The stock is down by over 9% since the start of 2025. However, Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) has posted impressive growth, fueled by higher egg prices, strong operational efficiency, and strategic moves like the acquisition of ISE America. In fiscal Q3 2025, revenue more than doubled, jumping 101.6% year-over-year, supported by strong demand and supply shortages linked to avian flu outbreaks, which helped lift gross margins from 31.1% to 50.5%. Backed by a solid balance sheet—with $497.2 million in cash and very little debt—Cal-Maine is well-positioned to expand its cage-free production efforts, keeping pace with regulatory changes and shifting consumer preferences. During the quarter, Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) also paid $170 million worth of dividends. The company currently offers a quarterly dividend of $1.49 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.11%, as recorded on April 28. Overall, CALM ranks 3rd on our list of the dividend stocks targeted by short sellers. While we acknowledge the potential of CALM as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued dividend stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued dividend stock that is more promising than CALM but that trades at 10 times its earnings and grows its earnings at double digit rates annually, check out our report about the . READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at . Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Guess?, Inc. (GES): A Cheap Dividend Stock Being Targeted by Short Sellers
We recently published a list of the 25 Cheap Dividend Stocks Being Targeted by Short Sellers. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) stands against other cheap dividend stocks. Short sellers — investors who profit from falling stock prices —are seeing a surge in success in 2025. They gained $159 billion in paper profits over just six trading sessions as escalating trade tensions triggered a drop of more than 10% in the US stock market. The sharp market decline, the steepest since 2022, followed President Donald Trump's announcement of broad global tariffs. According to S3 Partners LLC, the most lucrative short position during this period was against the SPY ETF, which tracks the S&P Index. Traders betting against this fund have racked up over $6.1 billion in paper gains so far this month, based on an April 8 report from S3. Short sellers could profit from the sharp intraday market swings that wiped out trillions in value, though their actual gains will depend on when they close their positions. S3 data showed that another $46 billion in new short bets were added in April, raising the risk that these bearish positions could intensify the market's next major move, particularly if the current downturn reverses and pushes major indexes higher. Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of predictive analytics at S3, made the following comment: 'Overall, the short side was an extraordinarily profitable trade up and down the market during this correction. 81% of every short trade was profitable and 97% of every dollar shorted was a profitable trade.' Another report from S&P Dow Jones Indices noted that the average short interest in US stocks rose to 87 basis points over the past month. The biggest jumps were observed in the Automobiles sector, which climbed by 11 basis points, followed by a 10 basis-point increase in the Commercial and Professional Services sector, and a 9 basis-point rise in the Food and Beverage sector. Although dividend-paying stocks are generally considered more stable than growth stocks, they have still been subject to short selling throughout history. In their 1998 study Who Trades Around the Ex-Dividend Day?, Jennifer Lynch Koski and John T. Scruggs found unusual trading patterns leading up to the ex-dividend date. They suggested that security dealers might short a stock while it still includes the dividend and then repurchase it after the ex-dividend date if they expect the stock's price drop to be larger than the dividend amount. Similarly, in their research paper Tax-Induced Trading Around Ex-Dividend Days, Josef Lakonishok and Theo Vermaelen observed unusual levels of short selling on and shortly after the ex-dividend date. They found that this activity tends to be more pronounced in stocks offering higher dividend yields. Their findings suggest that short sellers aim to minimize the typical price drop that often follows the ex-dividend date. A fashion-forward woman trying on a pair of sunglasses in the store mirror. For this article, we screened for dividend stocks with more than 3% of their float sold short, using data from Yahoo Finance recorded on April 15. From that group, we picked stocks with dividend yields above 3%, as of April 28. Companies offering high dividend yields are often more likely to attract the attention of short sellers. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of their short % of float. At Insider Monkey, we are obsessed with hedge funds. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (). Short % of Float as of April 15: 20.52% Dividend Yield as of April 28: 10.38% Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES), a California-based clothing company, designs, markets, distributes, and licenses a variety of lifestyle products, including apparel, denim, handbags, watches, eyewear, and footwear. As of February 1, 2025, the company operated 1,070 stores directly across Europe, the Americas, and Asia, with its partners and distributors running an additional 527 stores globally, giving it a presence in around 100 countries. With a short percentage float of 20.5%, GES is among the dividend stocks targeted by short sellers. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) reported revenue of $932.2 million, marking a 5% increase from the same period a year earlier and surpassing analysts' expectations by $24.5 million. Growth during the quarter was mainly driven by the acquisition of rag & bone, strong performance in wholesale operations across Europe and the Americas, and higher licensing revenues. Looking ahead, these initiatives are expected to contribute roughly $30 million in operating profit by fiscal 2027. Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) maintained a stable financial position, closing the year with $187.7 million in cash and cash equivalents and generating $121.6 million in operating cash flow. For fiscal 2026, Guess? anticipates producing $125 million in operating cash flow and $55 million in free cash flow. The company is a strong dividend payer, having maintained its payouts for 18 consecutive years. Currently, it offers a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.38%, as of April 28. Overall, GES ranks 2nd on our list of the dividend stocks targeted by short sellers. While we acknowledge the potential of GES as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued dividend stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued dividend stock that is more promising than GES but that trades at 10 times its earnings and grows its earnings at double digit rates annually, check out our report about the . READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at . Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Jack in the Box Inc. (JACK): A Cheap Dividend Stock Being Targeted by Short Sellers
We recently published a list of the 25 Cheap Dividend Stocks Being Targeted by Short Sellers. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK) stands against other cheap dividend stocks. Short sellers — investors who profit from falling stock prices —are seeing a surge in success in 2025. They gained $159 billion in paper profits over just six trading sessions as escalating trade tensions triggered a drop of more than 10% in the US stock market. The sharp market decline, the steepest since 2022, followed President Donald Trump's announcement of broad global tariffs. According to S3 Partners LLC, the most lucrative short position during this period was against the SPY ETF, which tracks the S&P Index. Traders betting against this fund have racked up over $6.1 billion in paper gains so far this month, based on an April 8 report from S3. Short sellers could profit from the sharp intraday market swings that wiped out trillions in value, though their actual gains will depend on when they close their positions. S3 data showed that another $46 billion in new short bets were added in April, raising the risk that these bearish positions could intensify the market's next major move, particularly if the current downturn reverses and pushes major indexes higher. Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of predictive analytics at S3, made the following comment: 'Overall, the short side was an extraordinarily profitable trade up and down the market during this correction. 81% of every short trade was profitable and 97% of every dollar shorted was a profitable trade.' Another report from S&P Dow Jones Indices noted that the average short interest in US stocks rose to 87 basis points over the past month. The biggest jumps were observed in the Automobiles sector, which climbed by 11 basis points, followed by a 10 basis-point increase in the Commercial and Professional Services sector, and a 9 basis-point rise in the Food and Beverage sector. Although dividend-paying stocks are generally considered more stable than growth stocks, they have still been subject to short selling throughout history. In their 1998 study Who Trades Around the Ex-Dividend Day?, Jennifer Lynch Koski and John T. Scruggs found unusual trading patterns leading up to the ex-dividend date. They suggested that security dealers might short a stock while it still includes the dividend and then repurchase it after the ex-dividend date if they expect the stock's price drop to be larger than the dividend amount. Similarly, in their research paper Tax-Induced Trading Around Ex-Dividend Days, Josef Lakonishok and Theo Vermaelen observed unusual levels of short selling on and shortly after the ex-dividend date. They found that this activity tends to be more pronounced in stocks offering higher dividend yields. Their findings suggest that short sellers aim to minimize the typical price drop that often follows the ex-dividend date. The front counter of the restaurant, with the menu illuminated in the background. For this article, we screened for dividend stocks with more than 3% of their float sold short, using data from Yahoo Finance recorded on April 15. From that group, we picked stocks with dividend yields above 3%, as of April 28. Companies offering high dividend yields are often more likely to attract the attention of short sellers. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of their short % of float. At Insider Monkey, we are obsessed with hedge funds. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (). Short % of Float as of April 15: 32.33% Dividend Yield as of April 28: 6.95% Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK) is an American fast-food chain company, headquartered in California. The company reported a 3.7% drop in total revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2025, bringing in $469.4 million. This decline was mainly attributed to the refranchising of its Del Taco brand. Net income for the quarter stood at $33.7 million. Same-store sales saw a slight overall rise of 0.4%, with franchise locations increasing by 0.5%, while company-owned stores dipped by 0.4%. Despite the mixed financial results, Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK) demonstrated a strong cash position, generating more than $105.6 million in operating cash flow—an impressive turnaround from the negative $22,675 recorded during the same period last year. The company has consistently paid dividends since 2014. Its quarterly dividend comes in at $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.95%, as of April 28. At the end of Q4 2024, 17 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK), up from 16 in the previous quarter. The collective value of these stakes is over $75.3 million. Among these hedge funds, Citadel Investment Group was the company's leading stakeholder in Q4. Overall, JACK ranks 1st on our list of the dividend stocks targeted by short sellers. While we acknowledge the potential of JACK as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued dividend stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued dividend stock that is more promising than JACK but that trades at 10 times its earnings and grows its earnings at double digit rates annually, check out our report about the . READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at . Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UGI Corporation (UGI): One of the Cheap Dividend Stocks Being Targeted by Short Sellers
We recently published a list of the 25 Cheap Dividend Stocks Being Targeted by Short Sellers. In this article, we are going to take a look at where UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) stands against other cheap dividend stocks. Short sellers — investors who profit from falling stock prices —are seeing a surge in success in 2025. They gained $159 billion in paper profits over just six trading sessions as escalating trade tensions triggered a drop of more than 10% in the US stock market. The sharp market decline, the steepest since 2022, followed President Donald Trump's announcement of broad global tariffs. According to S3 Partners LLC, the most lucrative short position during this period was against the SPY ETF, which tracks the S&P Index. Traders betting against this fund have racked up over $6.1 billion in paper gains so far this month, based on an April 8 report from S3. Short sellers could profit from the sharp intraday market swings that wiped out trillions in value, though their actual gains will depend on when they close their positions. S3 data showed that another $46 billion in new short bets were added in April, raising the risk that these bearish positions could intensify the market's next major move, particularly if the current downturn reverses and pushes major indexes higher. Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of predictive analytics at S3, made the following comment: 'Overall, the short side was an extraordinarily profitable trade up and down the market during this correction. 81% of every short trade was profitable and 97% of every dollar shorted was a profitable trade.' Another report from S&P Dow Jones Indices noted that the average short interest in US stocks rose to 87 basis points over the past month. The biggest jumps were observed in the Automobiles sector, which climbed by 11 basis points, followed by a 10 basis-point increase in the Commercial and Professional Services sector, and a 9 basis-point rise in the Food and Beverage sector. Although dividend-paying stocks are generally considered more stable than growth stocks, they have still been subject to short selling throughout history. In their 1998 study Who Trades Around the Ex-Dividend Day?, Jennifer Lynch Koski and John T. Scruggs found unusual trading patterns leading up to the ex-dividend date. They suggested that security dealers might short a stock while it still includes the dividend and then repurchase it after the ex-dividend date if they expect the stock's price drop to be larger than the dividend amount. Similarly, in their research paper Tax-Induced Trading Around Ex-Dividend Days, Josef Lakonishok and Theo Vermaelen observed unusual levels of short selling on and shortly after the ex-dividend date. They found that this activity tends to be more pronounced in stocks offering higher dividend yields. Their findings suggest that short sellers aim to minimize the typical price drop that often follows the ex-dividend date. A view of the skyline from an electricity pylon, to show the ubiquity of the companies energy products. For this article, we screened for dividend stocks with more than 3% of their float sold short, using data from Yahoo Finance recorded on April 15. From that group, we picked stocks with dividend yields above 3%, as of April 28. Companies offering high dividend yields are often more likely to attract the attention of short sellers. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of their short % of float. At Insider Monkey, we are obsessed with hedge funds. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (). Short % of Float as of April 15: 7.55% Dividend Yield as of April 28: 4.61% UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) ranks 15th on our list of the dividend stocks targeted by short sellers. The diversified energy company with operations spanning natural gas utilities, midstream and marketing, international LPG, and AmeriGas has seen its stock lag due to weakness in its propane business. AmeriGas, which UGI acquired in 2019 for $4.6 billion, was initially expected to boost earnings but has instead weighed heavily on the company's financial performance. Since the acquisition, AmeriGas' EBITDA has dropped from $584 million in 2019 to $320 million in 2024, with margins shrinking from 21.8% to 14.1%. The division has also seen a 30% decline in retail gallons sold, largely blamed on operational issues, poor customer service, and unusually warm weather. These challenges have forced UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) to record $850 million in goodwill impairments over the past two years, wiping out nearly half of the goodwill originally attributed to the acquisition. The stock has rebounded and has delivered over 15% return since the start of 2025. In fiscal Q1 2025, UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) reported revenue of $2.03 billion, down 4.29% from the same period last year. The revenue also missed analysts' estimates by $617 million. However, its cash position was strong as the company had $1.5 billion in available liquidity at the end of December 2024. It has been paying regular dividends to shareholders for the past 140 years, with a quarterly dividend now standing at $0.375 per share. As of April 28, the stock has a dividend yield of 4.61%. Overall, UGI ranks 15th on our list of the dividend stocks targeted by short sellers. While we acknowledge the potential of UGI as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued dividend stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued dividend stock that is more promising than UGI but that trades at 10 times its earnings and grows its earnings at double digit rates annually, check out our report about the . READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at . Sign in to access your portfolio
