Company News for June 21, 2011 - Corporate Summary

•    Manufacturer and distributors of stainless steel and titanium products, Carpenter Technology

  has concluded a merger agreement with Latrobe Specialty Metals as per which the former will acquire the latter in a deal worth around $558 million

•    Shares of PNC Financial Services

fell marginally, by 1.96% after the company announced it was acquiring the U.S. retail banking operations of the Royal Bank of Canada for $3.45 billion

•    Chinese electric-motor manufacturer Harbin Electric

has entered into a definitive agreement as per which it will be acquired by a company owned by Chairman and Chief Executive Tianfu Yang for $744 million

•    Share prices of Agrium Inc.

jumped 4.05% to close at $82.98 after the company increased its outlook for second quarter earnings. Agrium said strong retail sales and higher nutrients prices were the factors behind this revision

•    PetSmart, Inc.

share prices increased marginally, by 2.19%, to close at $44.34 after the provider of specialty pet products increased its dividend payout and initiated a share buyback program

•    Early on Monday, Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

announced that its pain treatment which is owned jointly by Acura and Pfizer Inc

has received approval from the FDA. Reacting to the news, share prices of the pharma company rose 16.28% to close at $4.50

•    ISI Group upgraded shares of Biogen Idec Inc.

from "Hold" rating to "Buy" rating after the company's multiple sclerosis drug BG-12's showed promising results

•    Analysts at Deutsche Bank

upgraded Ashland Inc.

to “Buy” rating from “Hold” rating  with a target price of $75.00

•    Analysts at Goldman Sachs

upgraded the coal sector to “Attractive” rating from “Neutral” rating

•    Analysts at Robert W. Baird downgraded Almost Family, Inc.

to “Underperform” rating from “Neutral” rating  and lowered the target price from $32.00 to $21.00

•    Shares of Skyworks Solutions

were downgraded by analysts of Deutsche Bank

from "Buy" rating to "Hold" while its  target price was lowered from $40.00 to $30.00