U.S. Movers: Alexander & Baldwin, Dollar General, ITC, SuccessFactors

Mukesh Buch
05 Dec, 2011
New York City

Alexander & Baldwin plan to separate in to two independent publicly traded companies. Dollar General said third quarter net soared 34% to $171.2 mn. Entergy Corp. agreed to merge its electricity transmission business with ITC. SuccessFactors agreed to be acquired by SAP America, Inc. for $3.4 bn.

[R]10:35 AM New York – Alexander & Baldwin plan to separate in to two independent publicly traded companies. Dollar General said third quarter net soared 34% to $171.2 million. Entergy Corp. agreed to merge its electricity transmission business with ITC. SuccessFactors agreed to be acquired by SAP America, Inc. for $3.4 billion.[/R]

Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. ((ALEX)) rose 0.9% or 42 cents to $44.81 after the company announced the plan to separate in to two independent publicly traded companies.Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. will focus on real estate and agriculture and Matson will focus on transportation and logistics business. The separation is expected to be completed in the second half of 2012.

Dollar General Corporation ((DG)) increased 2% or 83 cents to $40.77 after the discount retailer reported third quarter net sales soared 11.5% to $3.60 billion from $3.22 billion in the same quarter last year. Net income in the quarter soared 34% to $171.2 million or 50 cents per diluted share compared to $128.1 million or 37 cents share a year earlier.

Same store sales increased 6.3% for the quarter. The company raises fiscal 2011 financial outlook adjusted diluted earnings per share in the range of $2.29 to $2.32. In fiscal year 2011 the company also plans to open approximately 625 new stores.

Hi-Tech Pharmacal Co., Inc. ((HITK)) rose 0.2% or 10 cents to $42.78 after the specialty drugs manufacturer said second quarter net sales soared 27% to $56.9 million from $44.7 million in the same quarter last year. Net income in the quarter increased to $13.8 million or $1.04 per diluted share compared to $10.0 million or $0.76 share a year earlier.

Ingles Markets, Inc ((IMKTA)) gained 1.2% or 18 cents to $18.18 after the supermarket chain operator stated fourth quarter net sales grew 5.8% to $905.8 million from $856.0 million in the same quarter last year. Grocery segment comparable store sales excluding gasoline rose 2.2%. Net income in the quarter increased to $11.0 million or 45 cents per diluted share compared to $8.2 million or 34 cents share a year earlier.

ITC Holdings Corp. ((ITC)) soared 7.2% or $5.34 to $79.12 after the electric transmission company said Entergy Corporation ((ETR)), will divest and merge its transmission business with the company. Entergy shareholders will control 50.1% of the merged entity and ITC shareholders will hold the rest of 49.9%.

Entergy expects to receive gross cash proceeds of $1.78 billion and the transaction is expected to complete in 2013.

Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation ((MRX)) rose 0.8% or 26 cents to $32.77 after the pharmaceutical maker said it completed the acquisition of all assets of Graceway Pharmaceuticals, LLC following approval by the bankruptcy courts in the U.S. and Canada for $455 million.

SuccessFactors, Inc. ((SFSF)) soared 51.2% or $13.44 to $39.69 after SAP America, Inc. agreed to acquire the cloud computing company for $40 a share in cash or $3.4 billion. The transaction is expected to close during first quarter of 2012.