US HOT STOCK FUTURES: HOT STOCKS TO WATCH

05/29/2012| 09:01am US/Eastern

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Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Tuesday's session are Chesapeake Energy Corp. (>> Chesapeake Energy Corporation), LeCroy Corp. (>> LeCROY Corporation) and Vertex Pharmaceutical Inc. (>> Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated).

Activist investor Carl Icahn reported a 7.6% stake in Chesapeake Energy on Friday and called for the replacement of at least four of the embattled natural gas company's current board members. The company said it would "carefully review" his request. Shares were up 2.8% premarket.

Teledyne Technologies Inc. (>> Teledyne Technologies Incorporated) has agreed to acquire LeCroy Corp. (>> LeCROY Corporation) for roughly $240.6 million in cash, in a bid to extend offerings of test and measurement products. The deal values LeCroy at $14.30, a 56% premium to its most recent closing price. Shares climbed 55% to $14.16 premarket.

Vertex Pharmaceutical Inc. (>> Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated) revised the interim results of a recent clinical trial of cystic-fibrosis patients that had exceeded expectations and boosted hopes that the drug therapy tested could have blockbuster sales potential. Shares dropped 21% to $51.55 in premarket trade as the company said 35% of patients receiving the combination therapy experienced an improvement in lung function of at least 5 percentage points, down from the 46% first reported this month.

The American depositary shares of Spanish banks tumbled premarket Tuesday as fresh worries about Spain's banking system arose following the government's announcement of a $24 billion bailout of Bankia, its third-largest lender by assets. The news sent Spanish borrowing costs up to 2012 highs. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA) fell 6.4% to $5.73 premarket while Banco Santander SA (STD) dropped 5.8% to $5.33.

Interline Brands Inc. (>> Interline Brands Inc) has agreed to go private in a cash deal that values the distributor of maintenance and repair products at roughly $811 million. The company's agreement with GS Capital Partners and P2 Capital Partners offers shareholders $25.50 a share in cash, a 42% premium to the stock's Friday closing price. Shares jumped 41% to $25.34 premarket.

Patriot Coal Corp. (>> Patriot Coal Corporation) has named a new chief executive, Irl F. Engelhardt, to replace Richard M. Whiting as the company struggles to maintain its financial footing in a challenging market for coal. Separately, Goldman Sachs upgraded its stock-investment rating on Peabody to buy from neutral, saying it finds U.S. coal stocks "attractive" following a recent selloff. In addition to Peabody, the firm called SunCoke Energy (>> SunCoke Energy, Inc) and Consol Energy (CNG) its favorites. Shares of Peabody rose 4.7% to $14.44 premarket, while Consol Energy climbed 2.6% to $30.36 in light premarket trading.

 
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Trustmark Corp. (>> Trustmark Corp) agreed to acquire BancTrust Financial Group Inc. (>> BancTrust Financial Group, Inc.) in a deal valued at about $55.4 million that gives Trustmark a presence in the Alabama market. BancTrust holders will receive 0.125 shares of Trustmark common stock for each BancTrust share. Based on Trustmark's closing price of $24.66 Friday, the deal values BancTrust at about $3.08 a share, a 62% premium to its Friday close of $1.90.

Total pay for Rite Aid Corp.'s (>> Rite Aid Corporation) top executives jumped sharply higher in fiscal 2012 due to long-term cash incentive units that vested after the company reached adjusted earnings targets for the past three years. In a separate press release, Rite Aid disclosed Friday that the company's board elected President and Chief Executive John Standley to the additional position of chairman, effective next month.

Sanderson Farms Inc. (>> Sanderson Farms, Inc.) swung to a fiscal second-quarter profit as increased prices and production returned the poultry company to profitability.

Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (WPI) reached a settlement with Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. that resolves patent infringement lawsuits related to its generic version of the Lidoderm patch. The Endo Health Solutions Inc. (>> Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc) unit had been seeking to block Watson from selling a generic version of Lidoderm before a U.S. patent for Lidoderm expires in 2015.

-Edited By Corrie Driebusch and Nathalie Tadena, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2143; corrie.driebusch@dowjones.com

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