Monday's Winners & Losers: Furniture Brands
Furniture Brands International
(FBN)
was among the biggest gainers on the
NYSE
Monday, after a major investor suggested it may press for changes at the furniture maker.
Samson Holding, which owns 14.9% of the company,
said in a filing with the
Securities and Exchange Commission
that it "may consider various alternative courses of action and take any action deemed appropriate, including, but not limited to, the acquisition or disposition of
Furniture Brands' securities through open market transactions, seeking to acquire control of
the company through privately negotiated transactions, tender offers, exchange offers, mergers or otherwise, seeking board representation, or making proposals to
the company or its shareholders." Shares were gaining $3.54, or 34.9%, to $13.68.
Belo
(BLC)
shares jumped 18.7% after the newspaper and TV station owner said it planned to
spin off its newspaper business. The new entity, to be called A.H. Belo, will include Belo's papers, including the
Dallas Morning News
, Web sites, direct mail and commercial printing businesses. The spinoff is expected to take place in the first quarter of next year. Shares were adding $3.25 to $20.61.
Velcro Industries
(VELC)
jumped 15.5%, after the company made a cash tender offer for all its outstanding shares. The fastener maker offered $21 a share and set a Nov. 5 deadline. The company reserved the right to rescind the offer if it cannot buy back all of its shares. The stock was rising $2.78 to $20.68.
Shares of
Walgreen
(WAG)
was dipping 15%, after the drug store chain
missed Wall Street's fourth-quarter expectations. The company reported net sales of $13.42 billion in the fourth quarter, vs. $12.17 billion in the year-ago period. The company's net earnings dipped to $396.5 million, or 40 cents per diluted share, compared to $412.3 million, or 41 cents a share, in the year ago period. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected earnings of 47 cents a share on revenue of $13.55 billion. Shares fell $7.08 to $40.16.
Walgreen's miss also weighed on other drug store stocks, including
Rite Aid
(RAD) - Get Report
, which was losing 3.3% to $4.47, and
CVS Caremark
(CVS) - Get Report
, which shed 6.3% to $37.15.
Supermarket chain
Supervalu
(SVU)
shares fell 6.1%, after Banc of America Securities initiated coverage of the stock with a sell rating. Shares fell $2.39 to $36.62.