Hartford Dives 32%; MetLife, Principal Down 15%

123jump.com Staff
02 Oct, 2008
New York City

Insurance stocks decline for the third week in a row and and for the third day of the week as brokerage firm lower rating on companies. Two brokerage firms lowered outlooks on Principal Financial Group and MetLife. Prudential and Hartford Financial continue their slide for the week.

[R]1:05PM New York – Insurance companies drop for the third week in a row and are down between 30% and 40% from their recent highs in mid-September.[/R]

Agrium Inc ((AGM)) gained 4.5% or 31 cents to $7.16 a day after it gained nearly 60% on the completion of $65 million debt offering.

Con-way Inc ((CNW)) fell 14.72% or $6.28 to $36.65. The trucking company lowered its full-year earnings from continuing operations to between $2.60 and $2.80 per diluted share from the earlier estimate between $3.00 and $3.40.

Constellation Energy Group Inc ((CEG)) surged 10.2% or $2.44 to $26.20 after the merger partner MidAmerican Energy completed its 14-day due diligence of its trading records and the company expressed satisfaction with the transaction.

Constellation Brands, Inc ((STZ)) plunged 7.26% or $1.59 to $20.03 after it reported second quarter revenues rose 6% to $1.24 billion from $1.17 billion a year ago. Net loss in the quarter was $23 million or 11 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $72 million or 33 cents per share, a year ago.

eBay Inc ((EBAY)) fell 7.39% or $1.53 to $19.32 after Morgan Stanley lowered rating and said that auction trends on the markets are deteriorating.

General Electric ((GE)) dropped 10% after it complete $12.2 billion in public offering. The stock declined $2.32 to $22.18. The engineering giant stock has steadily declined as investors fear that mounting losses in its financial division will drag the earnings lower.

Las Vegas Sands Corp ((LVS)) fell 13.79% or $4.32 to $27 and fell below its intra-day price since it went public on December 15, 2004 at a price of $29 a share.

Marriott International, Inc ((MAR)) dropped 1.3% or $0.28 to $24.80 but plunged as much as 10% after its profit declined more than expected and the company issued a weak 2009 earnings guidance.

The Mosaic Company ((MOS)) dropped 31% or $20.54 to $46.97 after it reported first quarter net income of $1.2 billion or $2.65 a share compared to $305.5 million or $0.69 a share. The average phosphate price in the quarter was $1,013 per ton. The company reported earnings of $2.83 a share excluding the mark-market losses from credit derivatives and still missed the target. Farmers may face difficulty in getting loans if credit conditions remain tight and corn price keep falling.

Bunge Ltd. ((BG)) plunged 21% or $13.06 to $49.98 as agriculture stocks declined. Merrill Lynch downgraded Potash and Agrium to ‘underperform’ from ‘buy.’

Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc ((POT)) plunged 24.15% or $30.92 to $97.12 and Terra Industries ((TRA)) plunged 22% or $6.09 to $22.31 and now fallen nearly 50% in the last seven days of trading from as high as $44. CF Industries Holdings, Inc ((CF)) dropped 26.04% or $23.20 to $65.56. Intrepid Potash, Inc ((IPI)) fell 21.62% or $6.40 to $23.25.

Principal Financial Group ((PFG)) dropped $3.03 or 8% to $34.61after Morgan Stanley revised its outlook lower on the insurance company and cited equities and bond markets volatility and continued deterioration in the housing market. MetLife ((MET)) dropped 11% or $5.15 to $43.04 after insurance analyst Alan Devlin at Atlantic Equities lowered his outlook on the company.

Hartford Financial Services Group ((HIG)) dropped 11% or $4.00 to $34.11 and now has fallen from a high of $72 in the mid-September.

In the same period MetLife has declined approximately 30% from $62 to $43, Principal Financial has fallen 38% from $54 to $34 and Prudential has dropped 33% from $89 to $61.

Standard Microsystems Corporation ((SMSC)) dropped 7.71% or $1.96 to $23.60 after the integrated circuit maker reduced sales and profits estimate in its latest quarter, and forecast lower demand for its products in the next quarter.