U.S. Hot Stocks: Hot Stocks to Watch

Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Monday's session are Caesars Entertainment Corp.(CZR), Oracle Corp.(ORCL) and Tesco Corp.(TESO).

Caesars Entertainment Corp. (CZR) on Monday agreed to acquire affiliate Caesars Acquisition Co. (CACQ) in a stock-for-stock merger that will better position the $18.4 billion debt load of its largest unit. The acquisition also will consolidate the parent company's stake in properties such as Planet Hollywood and Bally's Las Vegas, online gambling operations and other assets it owns with Caesars Acquisition.

Tesco Corp. (TESO) gave a disappointing outlook for its current quarter on Monday, saying the rapid decline in energy prices is hampering demand for its drilling equipment. Houston-based Tesco, which develops and commercializes drilling technology, said some of its customers have asked to defer shipments of drilling equipment until next year, while others have canceled orders altogether.

Oracle Corp. (ORCL) said Monday that it bought advertising-analytics company Datalogix Inc. in its latest bid to beef up its cloud offerings. The move comes days after Oracle posted quarterly profit and revenue that broke a streak of three-straight quarters in which the company's results fell shy of analysts' expectations. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

The largest manager of U.S. prescription-drug benefits, Express Scripts Holding Co. (ESRX), announced Monday that it will make an AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) hepatitis C treatment the exclusive option for patients with the most common form of hepatitis C. The move will help the drug maker take market share from Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD), which makes the blockbuster Sovaldi, but is likely to be controversial for limiting doctors' and patients' treatment choices.

Stocks to Watch from Barron's:

CVS Health (CVS) stock has gotten a dose of valuation Viagra. Back around Valentine's Day, shares traded at $70, or 15.4 times projected earnings for the following four quarters. Shares were recently selling for $95 and change, up more than 35%. CVS's combination of a vast drugstore chain, top prescription-benefits manager, and growing base of walk-in clinics gives it powerful exposure to both rising insurance coverage under Obamacare and the "retailization" of health care, in which drop-in clinics are increasingly used for mundane matters, thus holding down expenses. That makes the company much more than a retailer, as evidenced by recent results. Shares could post low-double-digit returns in the next few years.

Write to Chelsey Dulaney at [e-mail]

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