Hartford Financial Plunges, BankRate Drops

Mayank Mehta
06 Feb, 2009
New York City

Banks and financial stocks led the gainers on the hopes that the U.S. Treasury plan will provide additional capital to the industry. Hartford plunges on second quarterly loss.

[R]11:00AM New York – Banks and financial stocks led the gainers on the hopes that the U.S. Treasury plan will provide additional capital to the industry. Hartford plunges on second quarterly loss.[/R]

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 410 increased, 87 declined and 3 were unchanged.

Hartford Financial Services led the decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 28% followed by losses in Apartment Investment with a loss of 12%, in Verisign Inc of 7.6%, in Salesforce.com of 7.4%, in Lincoln National Corp of 7.4%.

Fifth Third Bancorp led gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 32% followed by gains in Regions Financial of 26.5%, in Marshall & Ilsley of 25% and Bank of America of 22.5%.

Other Movers

Aon Corporation ((AOC)) rose 12.2% or $4.38 to $40.83 after the largest global insurance brokerage by assets reported fourth quarter revenues fell 4% to $1.92 billion from $2.01 billion a year ago. Net income in the quarter fell 95% to $10 million or 3 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $207 million or 64 cents per share a year ago.

Apartment Investment and Management Company ((AIV)) fell 6.9% or 54 cents to $7.19 after the self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust announced that for first quarter of 2009 it expects funds from operation per share between $0.30 and $0.36. For fiscal 2009 it expects FFO to range between $1.65 and $1.95.

Bank of America Corporation ((BAC)) gained 15.0% or 73 cents to $5.57 on the hopes that the soon to be released new plan by the U.S. Treasury will provide additional liquidity to banks.

Bankrate, Inc ((RATE)) fell 13.0% or $4.05 to $27.00 after the consumer finance portal operator said fourth quarter revenues rose 59% to $40.2 million from $25.2 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter fell 35% to $2.7 million or 14 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $4.1 million or 21 cents per share a year ago.

bebe stores, inc ((BEBE)) added 6.1% or 35 cents to $6.08 after the women''s-apparel and accessories retailer said second quarter sales fell 11% to $181.9 million from $203.3 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter fell 71% to $6.8 million or 8 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $23.4 million or 26 cents per share a year ago.

Biogen Idec Inc ((BIIB)) plunged 3.0% or $1.43 to $51.85 after the biotechnology company reported fourth quarter revenues rose 20% to $1.07 billion from $893 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter rose 3% to $206.7 million or 70 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $201.2 million or 67 cents per share a year ago.

Fifth Third Bancorp ((FITB)) the regional bank surged 19.5% or 32 cents to $1.96 on a rally in financial stocks.

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc ((HIG)) dropped 26.3% or $3.97 to $11.12 after the insurance and financial company lost in the fourth quarter $806 million or $2.71 per diluted share compared to net income of $595 million or $1.88 per share a year ago.

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated ((HBAN)) the diversified financial company rose 19.5% or 35 cents to $2.14.

JDS Uniphase Corporation ((JDSU)) retreated 5.1% or 10 cents to $4.01 after the networking and telecom chip maker said that for third quarter 2009 it expects revenue to be in the range of $275 million to $300 million significantly lower than the consensus average in Reuters Estimates of analysts of $361 million for third quarter 2009.

Marshall & Ilsley Corporation ((MI)) the regional lender climbed 15.4% or 59 cents to $4.41.

Multi-Fineline Electronix, Inc ((MFLX)) fell 7.4% or $1.46 to $17.56 after the maker of flexible circuit boards for mobile devices estimated sales substantially lower than estimated by analysts.

For the second quarter the company expects net sales in the range of $170 million to $190 million lower than estimate of $200 million for the quarter as per the Thomson Reuters analysts survey.

Regions Financial Corporation ((RF)) the financial company jumped 18.3% or 52 cents to $3.35.

salesforce.com, Inc ((CRM)) lost 5.6% or $1.72 to $29.00 after the sales force management software developer said the several executives of the company left.

Sonic Solutions ((SNIC)) rose 8.6% or 13 cents to $1.63 after the digital media content software developer said third quarter sales fell 25.6% to $26.5 million from $35.6 million a year ago. Net loss in the quarter was $111.1 million or $4.27 per diluted share compared to net loss of $1.9 million or 7 cents per share a year ago.

Skechers U.S.A., Inc ((SKX)) tumbled 26.6% or $2.69 to $7.40 after the children’s shoe maker said it plans to aggressively cut its inventory and expenses by the middle of 2009 as the footwear designer expects its margins to be hurt by reduced prices initiated amid the deteriorating retail market. The company also forecasted 18% decline in 2009 sales.

Skyworks Solutions, Inc ((SWKS)) advanced 28.4% or $1.44 to $6.47 after the mobile telephony chip maker reported that the company earned 17 cents per share in the latest quarter.

SunTrust Banks, Inc ((STI)) the financial services company rose 15.5% or $1.62 to $12.01.

VeriSign, Inc ((VRSN)) slid 4.8% or 98 cents to $19.23 after Internet security provider reported fourth quarter profit on smaller charges and rising revenues.

Weyerhaeuser Company ((WY)) fell 6.3% or $1.74 to $25.62 after the timber and wood products company reported fourth quarter revenues fell 28% to $1.8 billion from $2.5 billion a year ago. Net loss in the quarter was $1.21 billion or $5.73 per diluted share compared to net loss of $63 million or 30 cents per share a year ago.