Wednesday's Winners & Losers: Mattel

Updated from 12:06 p.m. EDT

Shares of Quicksilver Resources (KWK Quote) were among the NYSE's winners Wednesday, jumping 6.5% after the exploration and production company announced a deal to sell its assets in Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky to BreitBurn Energy Partners(BBEP Quote).

Quicksilver will receive $750 million in cash and about 21.348 common units of BreitBurn, a California-based exploration and production outfit. BreitBurn has the option to increase the cash portion of the deal at closing and reduce the number of common units issued based upon a fixed unit value of $32.79, representing total consideration of $1.45 billion. Shares of Quicksilver closed up $2.71 to $44.39, while BreitBurn units added 17 cents, or 0.5%, to $32.37.

Elsewhere, Mattel (MAT Quote) shares were on the rise as the toymaker's CEO attempted to mitigate damage from a recent string of recalls. CEO Robert Eckert, speaking to the Senate Appropriations subcommittee, apologized for the incidents and promised to improve toy safety, according to the Associated Press.

The recalls relate to millions of Chinese-made toys under popular brands like Barbie and Fisher Price that may have contained lead paint. Shares of Mattel closed up 92 cents, or 4.2%, to $22.82.

First Marblehead (FMD Quote) climbed 6.4% after the provider of educational-financing services increased its dividend by 10%. First Marblehead will now pay a quarterly dividend of 27.5 cents, compared with its prior payout of 25 cents. Shares rose $2.22 to close at $37.16.

On the losing side, shares of Brady (BRC Quote) slid 5.2% after the maker of labels, signs and safety devices offered a weaker-than-expected outlook for the coming year. For the recently ended fourth quarter, Brady reported earnings of 58 cents a share, before charges, on sales of $362.8 million. That topped analyst targets for earnings of 57 cents a share and sales of $359 million.

But for fiscal 2008, the company forecast earnings of $2.31 to $2.42 a share, below analysts' average forecast of $2.48. Brady projected revenue of $1.43 billion to $1.46 billion, compared with Wall Street's expectation of $1.48 billion. Shares of Brady closed down $2.04 to $37.05.

Chiquita Brands (CQB Quote) dropped 2.8% after the fruit concern cautioned that third-quarter margins will be squeezed by cost pressures. The company said, however, that it has seen "meaningful" year-over-year banana price increases and 2% higher volumes in North America. Shares slipped 44 cents to close at $15.49.