Stocks to Watch: Boron LePore Leaps, Gerber Childrenswear Drops

Updated from 2:16 p.m. EDT

Winners

Boron LePore (BLPG) was climbing 19% to $15.90 on word Cardinal Health (CAH) agreed to acquire the company. According to the terms of the deal, Cardinal will acquire Boron, a medical education provider, for $16 a share, giving the transaction a value of around $190 million. Cardinal Health offers various services to the health care industry, including consulting, product packaging and marketing and pharmaceuticals distribution.

Computer Sciences (CSC) was rising 11% to $46.22 a day after the company said fourth-quarter earnings rose to 82 cents a share from 22 cents a share, including a restructuring charge. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call had been expecting 77 cents. Computer Sciences also said it expects earnings of $2.73 to $2.88 a share for the year with revenue growth of 6% to 8%. Analysts were expecting a profit of $2.51.

CTI Industries (CTIB), a maker of balloons and films, said first-quarter sales rose to $9.7 million from $6.1 million in the year-ago quarter. The company earned 31 cents a share, reversing a loss of 11 cents in the same period last year. The stock was one of the big winners of the day, rising 45% to $6.60. Earlier in the session, the shares were as high as $8.

MasTec (MTZ) was gaining 10% to $8 the day after the company reported first-quarter earnings before items of 3 cents a share, matching estimates. Including items, MasTec, a designer of networks for telecommunications, broadband and energy companies, lost 51 cents. The company also raised its guidance for the full year.

Mattson Technology (MTSN) was gaining 7% to $8.94 after Bear Stearns upgraded the company's shares to buy from attractive. The firm has a price target of $15 on Mattson.

Losers

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) was dropping 9% to $47.06 after the company said the Food and Drug Administration determined that its Lake County, Ill., diagnostic manufacturing operations failed to meet the agency's quality standards.

Beverly Enterprises (BEV) was falling 10% to $7.52 after the operator of nursing homes and assisted living centers said California regulators are investigating possible criminal charges against the company. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Beverly said the probe is based in part on civil citations related to patient care issued by the California Department of Health Services involving incidents from 1998 to 2001. Most of the citations were resolved by paying civil penalties, and some are still being contested.

Gerber Childrenswear (GCW) agreed to be acquired by Kellwood (KWD), and the target company was actually falling sharply. Gerber, which markets infant and toddler apparel and related products, was down 18% to $6.80 after selling out to Kellwood for $6.85 a share in cash and stock. Gerber closed Tuesday at $8.25, but according to the company's press release, this was probably the best option the company had. Kellwood, a marketer of apparel and recreational and camping products, was off 0.6% to $27.18.

Drug manufacturer Schering-Plough (SGP) said in its quarterly filing with regulators that it has been informed that the Food and Drug Administration's office of criminal investigation in Puerto Rico has launched an inquiry into one or more of the company products. The company's shares were losing 9% to $25.80.

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