SIGM, BRCM, CSCO, MOT, MSFT, CLF, PRU, EM Popular Stocks
U.S. stocks were higher Wednesday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 44 points to 10291, the Standard & Poor’s 500 rose about 6 points to 1099 and the Nasdaq Composite moved up 16 points to 2167.
Collins Stewart cut its stock-investment rating on Sigma Designs Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGM, $11.14, -$1.20, -9.72%) to sell from hold on concerns about a greater-than-expected market-share loss to Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ:BRCM, $28.67, -$0.06, -0.21%). The firm said its research shows Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO, $23.92, +$0.27, 1.14%) and Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT, $8.77, -$0.08, -0.90%) will move exclusively to Broadcom systems for Microsoft Corp.’s (NASDAQ:MSFT, $29.12, +$0.11, 0.38%) IPTV set-top boxes in the second half of next year. The analysts said Broadcom will likely get 70% market share of the Microsoft IPTV shipments next year.
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE:CLF, $38.96, +$1.10, 2.91%) restored its quarterly dividend, as the mining company said an improved outlook enabled the board to lift the payment back to a level last seen six months ago.
Financial-services company Prudential Financial Inc. (NYSE:PRU, $48.76, +$1.28, 2.70%) declared a 2009 common-stock dividend of 70 cents a share, about 21% higher than the 2008 dividend.
Emdeon Inc. (NYSE:EM, $15.46, -$0.74, -4.57%) said its third-quarter loss widened despite increased sales as the company paid stock-based compensation related to its August initial public offering. Shares fell even as the medical-billing company’s results topped Wall Street’s expectations and it forecast 2009 results in line with analysts’ estimates.
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