This is what's in the news for Friday, December 16, 2011. The Wall Street Journal reports oil companies active in the south of Iraq such as Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), BP (NYSE:BP), Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A), and Lukoil (NYSE:LUKOY) strengthened security to deal with concerns over the implications of the U.S. troop withdrawal, but they say that hasn't caused them to change plans to significantly increase production. Reuters reports the unexpected resignation of Cablevision System's (NYSE:CVC) top cable executive Tom Rutledge sparked Wall Street and investor speculation that the Dolan family controlled company could become an acquisition target. Reuters also reports Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB) began the sale of a large portion of its global asset management business, with a price expected to be $2.6B and higher. Finally, Bloomberg reports St. Jude's Medical's (NYSE:STJ) Riata defibrillator leads, which they stopped selling last year, were recalled by the FDA because of their potential to injure or kill patients.
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Darden Restaurant (NYSE:DRI) Cooks Up Mixed Estimates For Q2, Rose .4% Year-Over-Year (potential upside of 16.1%)
Uploaded by FinancialNewsOnline on Dec 16, 2011
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) reported Q2 EPS of $0.41, missing analyst estimates of $0.42 per share. Revenues for the quarter rose 6.1% year-over-year to $1.83 billion in-line with consensus estimates.
Clarence Otis , Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Darden said, "As we previously announced, strong sales growth this quarter at Red Lobster, LongHorn Steakhouse and our Specialty Restaurant Group was offset by below expectation sales results at Olive Garden, pressure on check averages as guests continue to be cautious about spending and unfavorable year-over-year food costs. To rebuild its value leadership position in the industry, Olive Garden is developing new promotional and core menu offerings and new advertising and is focused on remodeling its older restaurants. While guests will experience some of the changes relatively soon, others will take time to develop and implement. Fortunately, with reduced cost inflation in the second half of this fiscal year, the strong momentum at our other brands enables us to anticipate solid earnings growth for the remainder of the fiscal year even as Olive Garden makes the changes needed to get back on track."
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) has potential upside of 16.1% based on a current price of $43.74 and an average consensus analyst price target of $50.8.
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Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA) Begins Trading After $1 Billion IPO
Facebook game maker Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA) will begin trading today on the Nasdag Stock Market under the ticker "ZNGA" after it raised $1 billion in its initial public offering.
The company responsible for games such as "FarmVille," "CityVille," and "Mafia Wars" sold 100 million shares for $10 each. The offering is the biggest by a U.S. Internet company since Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) raised $1.9 billion in its 2004 IPO.
Zynga plans to used the proceeds of the IPO for game development, marketing and general corporate purposes according to its filing. Zynga gets more than 90 percent of its revenue from Facebook, the world's largest social network.
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Morton's Restaurant Group (NYSE:MRT) To Be Acquired by Tilman J. Fertitta for $6.90 Per Share (potential upside 74.4%)
Morton's Restaurant Group (NYSE:MRT) has signed a definitive agreement with Tilman J. Fertitta's wholly-owned company Fertitta Morton's Restaurants, an affiliate of Landry's, Inc., whereby Feritta, through an acquisition subsidiary, will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Morton's for $6.90 per share in cash, representing a premium of approximately 34% to the Company's closing price on December 15 and a premium of approximately 30% to the weighted average 30-day trading price immediately preceding this announcement.
Fertitta will finance the transaction through a combination of cash and debt, for which it has arranged financing, and expects to close the transaction in early February.
Morton's Restaurant (NYSE:MRT) has potential upside of 74.4% based on a current price of $5.16 and an average consensus analyst price target of $9.
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Eaton (NYSE:ETN) to Acquire E.A. Pedersen Company, Terms Not Disclosed (potential upside 24.8%)
Eaton Corporation (NYSE:ETN) announced it has agreed to acquire E.A. Pedersen Company, a manufacturer of medium voltage switchgear primarily for the electrical utilities industry. The deal is subject to customary closing conditions.
Rich Stinson, Eaton's president, Power Distribution, Electrical Sector for the Americas Region said, "The acquisition of Pedersen Power Products will strengthen Eaton's medium voltage assembly business by adding important utility-oriented power products and custom engineering capabilities for our U.S. markets."
Terms were not disclosed. E.A. Pedersen does business as Pedersen Power Products and employs about 150 people. The company is expected to have 2011 sales of approximately $37 million
Eaton (NYSE:ETN) has potential upside of 24.8% based on a current price of $41.98 and an average consensus analyst price target of $52.39.
