DCI, JACK, SMA, AFFY, NWY, CNO, MNTA, SNY Popular Stocks
U.S. stocks traded lower Thursday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 106 points to 10321, the S&P 500 fell 16 points to 1094 and the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 37 points to 2156.
Donaldson Co.’s (NYSE:DCI, $44.67, +$3.21, 7.74%) fiscal first-quarter profit fell 28%, but the industrial-filter maker expressed increasing confidence that conditions have stabilized in many of its end markets. That confidence led the company to raise its fiscal-year outlook.
Jack in the Box’s (NASDAQ:JACK, $18.50, -$1.53, -7.64%) fiscal fourth-quarter earnings rose a bigger-than-expected 51% as the fast-food restaurant company offset weak sales with cost cutting and gains from selling restaurants. But the company gave a weak forecast and said the current quarter isn’t off to a good start.
Wells Fargo raised its rating on Symmetry Medical Inc. (NYSE:SMA, $7.97, +$0.01, 0.13%) to market perform, saying orthopedic industry inventory growth and capital spending declines both started slowing in the third quarter. The firm added 2010 estimates “now look realistic and possibly even conservative.”
Affymax Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFY, $19.05, -$0.84, -4.22%) said it priced its offering of 4.1 million common shares at $18.25 each, an 8.2% discount to Wednesday’s closing price. The company expects proceeds of about $69.6 million from the offering.
New York & Co. (NYSE:NWY, $4.35, +$0.60, 16.00%) reported weaker-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results, but shares rose as the retailer made positive comments about the fourth quarter and said it’s extending its share buyback plan. Also, the company said expects to end fiscal year 2009 with significant cash and no borrowings under its revolving credit facility.
Conseco Inc. (NYSE:CNO, $5.11, -$0.24, -4.49%) plans to sell up to an estimated $230 million in stock, and the struggling insurer plans to use half of the net proceeds to repay its senior credit agreement with the remaining targeted for other purposes.
Oppenheimer raised its investment rating on Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:MNTA, $11.34, +$0.68, 6.38%) to outperform from perform, saying a regulatory decision on M-enoxaparin, the company’s generic version of Sanofi Aventis SA’s (NYSE:SNY, $37.66, -$0.76, -1.98%) blood-thinner, Lovenox, is drawing near.
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