More Top Picks Panasonic Arc5 Palm Sized
player ready...The week’s brass ring went to Fortune Brands, the Lincolnshire-based conglomerate that achieved its wish of acquiring a chunk of Allied Domecq, the British purveyor of spirits. Fortune Brands will take part of the company, with the rest going to French rival Pernod Ricard SA.
Wall Street initially balked at the deal, and the stock of Fortune Brands backed up a bit Wednesday, the day the pact was announced. But investors took note of the fact that the acquisition plays to one of Fortune’s strengths, humanity’s weakness for alcohol through its Jim Beam whiskey and other powerful potions. The company, which in days of yore marketed tobacco, also sells Titleist golf balls, the globe’s No. 1 brand.
At week’s end, its stock was up roughly 28 percent from its 52-week low of $68.47.
Also in the limelight: Tellabs Inc., the Naperville-based maker of telecommunications equipment. Its stock shot higher after it said first-quarter profits were held back by restructuring costs but sales jumped 65 percent, thanks to a major acquisition. The stock finished the week roughly 13 percent ahead of its 52-week low of $6.88.
The biggest winner, naturally, was Archipelago Holdings, which vaulted nearly 60 percent in value the day after it announced a deal to merge with the New York Stock Exchange, creating a publicly traded vehicle for investors.
Chicago-based Archipelago faces a culture shock as it tries to move its high-tech presence into the Big Apple. The traditional floor members cherish their open-outcry trading, as well as the NYSE’s much-criticized specialist system.
Merc takes a dip
The huzzahs for Archipelago and its East Coast merger partner had little effect on shares of the rival Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which have faltered. The Merc offers futures contracts on many of the same stocks involved in the Archipelago deal. Its stock finished the week roughly 26 percent below its 52-week high of $230.25.
It was another quarter of disappointment for DeVry Inc., which said net income fell 27 percent to $11.9 million, or 17 cents a share. Blame went to the usual suspects: recruiting shortfalls and a transition to part-time students.
The Oakbrook Terrace-based provider of schools that offer college degrees in business, technology and veterinary care nonetheless saw its stock rise nicely.
Analysts were expecting profits of only 13 cents a share and gave the company a boost. At week’s end, DeVry’s stock was about 78 percent above its 52-week low of $13.
———-