Two of today's biggest stock moves are coming from NAV and RCII
The Dow is holding modest gains today despite a huge decline in oil prices. Three of today's biggest stock moves are coming from truck producer Navistar International Corp (NYSE:NAV), retailer Rent-A-Center Inc (NASDAQ:RCII), and storied soccer franchise Manchester United PLC (NYSE:MANU). Let's take a closer look at the shares of NAV, RCII, and MANU below.
Earnings Lift NAV Shares Off Lows
Navistar stock is rallying after earnings, last seen up 15.7% at $27.58. The company's profit for its fiscal fourth quarter topped expectations, and it also raised its full-year truck delivery forecast. The move comes just a day after NAV shares touched a 52-week low of $23.70, and is much needed, given the equity's three-month slide of 31%.
As such, this price action could be catching some bears off guard. Put buying was more popular than call buying during the past two weeks across the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), and short sellers are holding 2.6 million shares -- 6.4 times the average daily trading volume.
Buyout News Sinks RCII Stock
RCII shares are tanking after the company said its agreement to be taken private by Vintage Capital, originally announced back in June, has been terminated. The stock has dropped 8.2% to trade at $13.27, earlier bouncing from its 320-day moving average after Vintage Capital labeled the decision to end the deal as "invalid" and promised to fight it. For reference, the security's last closing price before the deal was made public was $12.03.
More details will come later this week for investors, with Rent-A-Center scheduled to give an updated financial outlook this Thursday, Dec. 20. Analysts at Janney, meanwhile, have wasted little time, issuing a "buy" rating on RCII and $15 price target.
MANU Stock Pops After Manager Gets the Boot
Manchester United stock is getting help today after manager Jose Mourinho left the team, sending the shares 5.6% higher to $18.27. Amid a historically poor start for the soccer team, the equity's performance has been equally bad, as it's dropped roughly 23% in the past three months. In fact, MANU hit a 52-week low of $16.95 just over a week ago, and it's closed lower in the last three sessions.