Boeing, Hartford, Motorola, Smithfield: U.S. Equity Preview

By Lu Wang

Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Shares of the following companies may have unusual moves in U.S. trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses.

Amgen Inc. (AMGN US): The world’s largest biotechnology company gained European approval to sell Nplate, a treatment for a chronic bleeding disorder.

Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS US): Canada’s third-largest bank by assets may rise 20 percent in Toronto trading in the next two years because it has avoided major losses from the collapse of the U.S. mortgage market, Barron’s said, citing investors and analysts.

Boeing Co. (BA US): The second-largest U.S. defense contractor won a contract valued at as much as $2.95 billion to build 15 C-17 transport aircraft, the Defense Department said on its Web site.

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (HIG US): The insurer that lost $2.75 billion last year may be allowed by its state regulator to reduce reserves in an effort to bolster the company’s finances, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Motorola Inc. (MOT US): The co-chief executive officers of the second-biggest U.S. seller of mobile phones spent $2.75 million buying company stock last week, their first purchases since the price plunged 72 percent last year. Separately, Barron’s said Motorola may be better off exiting the mobile-phone business.

NetApp Inc. (NTAP US): The company’s shares may rise 25 percent or more as its cost-saving technology for network infrastructure attracts demand, Barron’s said, citing Paul Wick, a money manager at J&W Seligman & Co.

Smithfield Foods Inc. (SFD US): The world’s biggest pork processor agreed to pay higher interest rates and pledged a processing plant as collateral to amend its $1.3 billion revolving credit facility.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH US): The company’s shares may surge 73 percent or more in the next year as its business with Medicare and Medicaid patients receives a boost from President Barack Obama’s health-care policy, Barron’s said, citing analysts and investors.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lu Wang in New York at lwang8@bloomberg.net.