BB&T, Constellation, Unica, Weis Markets: U.S. Equity Preview

By Whitney Kisling

Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies may have unusual price changes in U.S. trading on Oct. 20. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and share prices are as of 6:20 p.m. in New York, unless otherwise specified.

Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in December lost 0.8 percent to 933.5. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slid 2.2 percent to 8,771. Nasdaq-100 Index futures dropped 0.9 percent to 1,311.

BB&T Corp. (BBT US): The Winston-Salem, North Carolina- based company is one of three regional banks that may join nine large U.S. banks that have agreed to sell stakes to the government. The shares fell 1.2 percent to $33.14.

Marshall & Isley Corp. (MI US), Wisconsin's largest bank, and PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (PNC US), based in Pittsburgh, are the other two companies weighing the government's offer to purchase preferred shares. Marshall & Isley slid 0.4 percent to $19.64 in regular trading, and PNC dropped 5.6 percent to $57.94 in regular trading.

Constellation Energy Partners LLC (CEG US): The fuel and energy distributor filed a statement for a proposed merger with MidAmerican Energy Holdings Inc. The two companies agreed to a ``definitive merger'' on Sept. 19. Constellation shares lost 1.1 percent to $24.06 in regular trading.

Unica Corp. (UNCA US): The Waltham, Massachusetts-based provider of software products that's lost 36 percent this year said it's cutting about 4 percent of its workforce in its fiscal first quarter. The shares rose 9.2 percent to $6.50 in late trading.

Weis Markets Inc. (WMK US): The food market operator for the Northeastern U.S. said third-quarter earnings dropped to $8.1 million, or 30 cents a share, compared with $10.8 million, or 40 cents, a year earlier. Weis recorded a $1.7 million pretax impairment charge from closing a store in the fourth quarter and said rising costs hurt earnings. The shares dropped 8.9 percent to $31.30 in regular trading.

To contact the reporters on this story: Whitney Kisling in New York at wkisling@bloomberg.net