Friday 4 May 2012

Stocks to watch Friday: Dolby, Dole Chesapeake






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By MarketWatch

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Among the stocks that could see active trade in Friday’s session are Dolby Laboratories Inc., Einstein Noah Restaurant Group Inc. and Chesapeake Energy Corp.
Utility operators and power-generation companies — Excelon Corp. EXC -1.17% , Duke Energy Corp. DUK -0.37% , PPL Corp. PPL -0.76% , AES Corp. AES -0.81%  and Pepco Holdings Inc. POM -0.91%  — are well represented in the roster of companies reporting quarterly financial results on Friday. Other notables include Church & Dwight Co. CHD +0.61% , Estee Lauder Cos. EL -0.70% , ITT Corp. ITT -2.05% , Federal Signal Corp. FSS -3.28% , Tutor Perini Corp. TPC -2.63% , United States Cellular Corp. USM +3.39% , Telephone & Data Systems Inc. TDS +0.70% , Washington Post Co. WPO -0.19%  and Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. ARCO -3.72% , among others.

Reuters
Aubrey McClendon, co-founder of Chesapeake Energy, in a March file photo.
Late Thursday, Chesapeake Energy CHK +2.69%  confirmed reports that Securities and Exchange Commission is conducting an informal inquiry, having requested that the company and Chief Executive Aubrey McClendon retain certain documents for the agency. The SEC, Chesapeake Energy said, pointed out that its inquiry “should not be construed as an indication that any violation of the federal securities laws has occurred.” The Oklahoma City-based company and McClendon, who will surrender the title of chairman, intend to cooperate in responding to the SEC’s inquiry. A string of recent revelations about McClendon has called into question corporate governance at Chesapeake Energy, the nation’s No. 2 producer of natural gas. Read more about Chesapeake’s McClendon.

DLB 37.63, -1.07
Dolby Laboratories DLB -2.76%  said it signed a deal under which Microsoft Corp. MSFT -0.13%  will include Dolby’s channel decoding and encoding technology in the upcoming Windows 8. Accordingly, Dolby stands to gain licensing and royalty revenues from original equipment manufacturers for the right to the Dolby Digital Plus technologies. Dolby Digital Plus is incorporated in more than 640 million devices, the San Francisco-based company said. The Microsoft deal came to light as Dolby reported financial results for the second quarter ended April 1. Dolby said it doesn’t expect the Windows 8 deal to have any effect on results for fiscal 2012 because it isn’t expected to ship until Dolby’s 2013 fiscal year. For fiscal 2012, Dolby’s now targeting revenue of $910 million to $960 million.

BAGL 14.04, -0.05, -0.35%
116LE 8.72, -0.13, -1.47%

Dole Food Co. DOLE -1.47%  said it’s initiated a strategic review, evaluating prospects and options for unspecified businesses. Alternatives that may come up for consideration include a “full or partial separation of one or more of our businesses through a spin-off or other capital markets transaction, as well as other alternatives that will enhance shareholder value,” said David DeLorenzo, president and CEO of the Westlake Village, Calif.-based company. “We are committed to enhancing shareholder value, and this review is a company priority,” he said in a statement. There can be no assurance that the company will pursue or complete any such deals. Also late Thursday, Dole Food reported results for the first quarter ended March 24.
Along with reporting results for the first quarter, Black Hills Corp. BKH -1.04%  lowered its profit forecast for 2012. The Rapid City, S.D.-based company, largely citing expectations for “sustained low” prices for natural gas, said it now anticipates generating earnings from continuing operations, on an adjusted basis, in a range of $1.90 to $2.10 a share for the year, down from the $2 to $2.20 a share forecast in February. Black Hills also noted unseasonably warm temperatures weather in areas where it provides utility service.
NorthStar Realty Finance Corp. NRF +4.21%  said it’s kicked off a secondary public offering of 20 million common shares. Net proceeds will go toward NorthStar making business investments as well as for repurchasing or pay liabilities and for general corporate purposes, the New York-based company said. Underwriter Deutsche Bank Securities will have a 30-day option to buy up to 3 million additional shares to satisfy investor demand if warranted.
TriQuint Semiconductor Inc. TQNT -5.93%  announced a one-year program authorizing up to $50 million in buybacks of the company’s common stock, with repurchases to be made from time to time in the open market or via private transactions. Hillsboro, Ore.-based TriQuint, which last month warned on its second-quarter outlook, said it expects to fund the program from existing cash balances and cash generated from operations. As of Thursday, the company had about 168.2 million shares outstanding.
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Black Hills Corp.
US : U.S.: NYSE
$ 32.20
-0.34 -1.04%
Volume: 188,691
May 3, 2012 4:01p
P/E Ratio
31.97
Dividend Yield
4.60%
Market Cap
$1.43 billion
Rev. per Employee
$623,991
33.00
32.50
32.00
31.50
31.00
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