U.S. markets experienced mixed results Monday as defensive utility stocks rose 1% while telecoms slipped 0.7%. The S&P 500 Index remained flat, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost a fraction and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.2%.
Several companies were on the move ahead of today’s action, including Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK), SeaWorld Entertainment Inc (NYSE:SEAS) and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT).
Here’s what made the headlines after yesterday’s close:
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK)
Carl Icahn announced the sale of more than half of his stake in Chesapeake Energy.
The billionaire investor reduced his position on CHK stock due to reasons related to tax planning. His stake on the company was 9.4% in August — it’s now down to 4.55%.
He commented on the matter, saying Doug Lawler and co. have done an admirable job considering the circumstances. Icahn said in 2012 that the company had “poor governance and unchecked risk taking.”
CHK stock slid 5% after the bell Monday.
SeaWorld Entertainment Inc (SEAS)
SeaWorld is suspending its quarterly dividend offering.
The company announced in 2014 that it would be issuing a dividend at a price of 21 cents per share. That will be dropped to 10 cents per share for the last payment.
Now, SeaWorld is focusing on repurchasing shares with the $190 million still available of the $150 million approved in 2014.
SeaWorld is slowly phasing out the presence of orca whales in its parks, citing the poor treatment of killer whales as the reason behind the move.
SEAS shares dipped 6.2% after hours Monday.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT)
Walmart has made its $3.3 billion acquisition of Jet.com official.
The move will help improve the retailer’s e-commerce business, expanding the tools and functionalities available to the company for its online work.
Jet.com has been around for more than a year, selling laptops, shampoo and more products. It was backed with hundreds of millions of dollars.
The site has customers who may not typically shop at Walmart as Jet.com has a market that is more high-end than the retailer–these may be new Walmart customers now.
WMT stock rose 0.2% after the bell yesterday.
As of this writing, Karl Utermohlen did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
