Today’s Market Winners and Losers

February 14, 2013 by 247sam

The stock market is mixed Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.04%, the Nasdaq down 0.06% and the S&P 500 up 0.04%. Today’s winners include a wine maker buying beer brands and a packaged goods company getting bought out. Today’s losers include a telecommunications firm reporting weak earnings and cutting its dividend, as well as a nutrition company that is bringing in fewer customers than anticipated.

These are Thursday’s market winners and losers.

Biggest Winners

Shares of Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ) are up 37.58% to 43.86% on trading volume of 22.7 million shares. Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD) plans to sell Groupo Modelo’s Piedras Negras brewery to the wine company and give it perpetual rights for some Modelo brands at a cost of $2.9 billion. Before Thursday, the 52-week high was $39.65.

Shares of H.J. Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ) are up 19.87% to $72.50 on trading volume of 26.7 million shares. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B) and private investment firm 3G capital are purchasing the company for $23 billion. Before Friday, the 52-week high was $61.18.

Biggest Losers

Shares of CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL) are down 19.55% to $33.54 on trading volume of 22 million shares. The company earned $0.38 a share in the fourth quarter, far worse than the $0.68 a share Wall St. analysts projected. It also announced it would cut its quarterly dividend by 26% to $0.54 a share. Before Thursday, the 52-week low was $36.52.

Shares of Weight Watchers International Inc. (NYSE: WTW) are down 17.69% to $44.54 on trading volume of 3 million shares. Although the company reported fourth-quarter financials that beat consensus expectations, the company warned that fewer people are signed up for its programs than expected so far this year. The 52-week low is $40.60.

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