ACS, Gander, Cisco Rise; Cal-Mine, MEMC Fall

Mayank Mehta
28 Sep, 2009
New York City

Affiliated Computer Services led gainers with a rise of 16.4% after Xerox offered 34% premium. Xerox led the decliners. Abbott increased on a purchase of Solvay SA pharma business. Gander Mountain surged 34% after it agreed to go private. Pomeroy IT Solutions acquired by Platinum Equity.

[R]11:45 AM New York – Affiliated Computer Services led gainers with a rise of 16.4% after Xerox offered 34% premium. Xerox led the decliners in the index. Abbott increased on a purchase of Solvay SA pharma business. Gander Mountain surged 34% after it agreed to go private. Pomeroy IT Solutions agrees to a bid from private equity fund.[/R]

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 406 increased, 87 declined and 7 were unchanged.

Xerox Corporation led the decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 14.1% followed by losses in Memc Electronic Materials Inc of 3.9%, in United States Steel Corporation of 2.2%, in Windstream Corporation of 2.1% and in M&T Bank Corporation of 1.7%.

Affiliated Computer Services, Inc led gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 16.4% followed by gains in Abbott Laboratories 4.6%, in Cisco Systems, Inc of 4.1% and in Computer Sciences Corporation of 3.7%.

Other Movers

Abbott Laboratories ((ABT)) rose 3.0% or $1.45 to $48.78 after it agreed to acquire pharmaceuticals business of Solvay SA for €4.5 billion or $6.6 billion in cash.

Affiliated Computer Services, Inc ((ACS)) increased 14.0% or $6.61 to $53.86 after Xerox $6.4 billion in stock, cash that values the company at $63.11 a share. Affiliated has increased its new outsourcing and government contracts signing from less than $600 million in 2007 to $1.1 billion in 2009.

Xerox Corp ((XRX)) dropped 16% to $7.69 after investors worried that the ACS deal will increase leverage on the balance sheet and that the offer is expensive.

Brookfield Properties Corporation ((BPO)) added 5.1% or 55 cents to $11.18 after the commercial real estate company was upgraded to “buy” from “hold” at Stifel Nicolaus & Company.

Cal-Maine Foods, Inc ((CALM)) decreased 7.7% or $2.15 to $25.63 an egg producer reported first quarter sales fell 9% to $187.7 million from $206.9 million a year ago. Net loss in the quarter was $3.8 million or 16 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $11.1 million or 47 cents per share a year ago.

Cisco Systems Inc increased 5.2% to $23.80 after Barclays revised the company rating to “overweight” from “equal-weight” and cited U.S. sales momentum and improving economic conditions worldwide.

Gander Mountain Company increased 34.8% to $5.15 after the sporting goods retailer board announced the company’s plan to go private. The company will offer to current shareholders $5.15 a share and conduct a reverse stock split of 1 for 30,000 shares to lower the number of shareholders below 300 to meet SEC requirement for deregistration.

Two largest shareholders in the company have agreed to purchase stocks from minority holders.

Since listed as a public company in 2004, the company stock has steadily declined from the high of $25 in July of 2004.

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc ((KERX)) fell 5.3% or 14 cents to $2.54 after the drug maker prepared to sell 8 million shares of its common stock at a price per share of $2.50 in a direct offering to select institutional investors representing gross proceeds of approximately $20 million.

Memc Electronic Materials Inc ((WFR)) the silicon wafers maker for solar panel modules fell 3.4% or 59 cents to $16.71.

Pomeroy IT Solutions, Inc ((PMRY)) added 9.6% or 56 cents to $6.40 after the consultant and seller of business management software and services announced today that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by affiliates of private equity firm Platinum Equity LLC for $6.50 per share or $60 million.

The company terminated its merger deal with Hebron LLC and paid a termination fee of $1 million.

The company had four years of annual revenues decline and losses in three of the last four years totaling $133 million.

TRC Companies, Inc ((TRR)) declined 2.7% or 10 cents to $3.70 after the consulting, engineering and construction management firm reported fourth quarter net service revenues fell 2.5% to $63.6 million from $65.2 million a year ago. Net loss in the quarter was $5.3 million or 27 cents per diluted share compared to net loss of $16.1 million or 86 cents per share a year ago.

ViroPharma Incorporated ((VPHM)) increased 8.1% or 74 cents to $9.69 after the pharmaceutical company was upgraded to “outperform” from “perform” at Oppenheimer.