Today's Winners and Losers: American Retirement

Shares of Target(TGT Quote) were among the NYSE's losers Monday, falling 4% after the discount retailer posted first-quarter earnings that missed Wall Street's forecast by a penny.

The company earned $554 million, or 63 cents a share, on revenue of $12.86 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call expected earnings of 64 cents a share on revenue of $12.85 billion. During the year-earlier quarter, Target earned $494 million, or 55 cents a share, on revenue of $11.48 billion. During the most recent period, the company recorded a 12.1% jump in cost of sales and a 15.3% increase in selling, general and administrative expenses. As a result, the company's gross margin was "slightly unfavorable" compared with a year ago, Target said.

Looking ahead, Target continues to see 2006 earnings growing in the mid-teen percentage range. Analysts project earnings of $3.12 a share, or earnings growth of about 16%. Shares were trading down $2.19 to $50.02.

American Retirement(ACR Quote) jumped 29% after the retirement facilities operator agreed to be acquired by Brookdale Senior Living(BKD Quote) for about $1.2 billion in cash. Brookdale will pay $33 a share for American Retirement, representing a 33% premium over Friday's closing price of $24.90. "This is an extraordinarily powerful combination of complementary businesses that creates the nation's largest operator of senior living facilities," Brookdale said in a press release. The combined company will operate 535 facilities in 34 states, serving more than 50,000 residents. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter. Shares of American Retirement were trading up $7.21 to $32.11, while Brookdale shares rose $3.36, or 9%, to $40.36.

Shares of Ivanhoe Mines(IVN Quote) sank 23% after the mining company posted a wider first-quarter loss. The company reported a loss of $23.2 million, or 7 cents a share. Ivanhoe reported a loss from continuing operations of $31.1 million, or 10 cents a share. Last year, the company posted a first-quarter loss from continuing operations of $24.2 million, or 8 cents a share. Ivanhoe blamed the wider loss on lower income from a joint venture, a decrease in income from the sale of discounted operations, and an increase in stock-based compensation costs. Shares were trading down $2.12 to $7.14.