Goldman Sachs, Hertz, MGM Mirage, UniFirst: U.S. Equity Preview

By Rita Nazareth

April 2 (Bloomberg) -- Shares of the following companies may have unusual moves in U.S. trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses.

Allstate Corp. (ALL US): The largest publicly traded U.S. home and auto insurer cut Chief Executive Officer Tom Wilson’s bonus 76 percent after failing to meet 15 of 18 “key strategic, operational and financial measures” last year.

Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB US): The world’s largest maker of multiple sclerosis medicines nominated four directors and urged shareholders to reject a slate offered by Carl Icahn, the billionaire investor who is seeking control of Biogen.

Blackstone Group LP (BX US): The world’s largest buyout firm was rated “outperform” in new coverage by Credit Suisse Group AG, which cited longer-term franchise positioning and valuation.

Continental Airlines Inc. (CAL US): The fourth-largest U.S. carrier said revenue from each seat flown a mile fell as much as 19.5 percent in March for the third straight decline.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS US): The largest U.S. securities firm to convert to a bank was rated “outperform” by Credit Suisse, which cited its “strong” position in the market and balance sheet.

Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (HTZ US): The second-largest U.S. publicly traded rental-car company said it won the right to purchase some assets of Advantage Rent A Car. The purchase price is about $33 million and is subject to court approval.

Legg Mason Inc. (LM US): The mutual-fund manager, which is suffering the biggest outflows in its history, sold structured investment vehicles valued at about $49 million from its balance sheet, after removing all of the troubled debt from its money- market funds last month. Legg Mason also repaid debt and amended debt agreements.

MGM Mirage (MGM US): Colony Capital LLC has held talks with MGM, the casino company controlled by Kirk Kerkorian, and about a possible investment in its City Center project in Las Vegas, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site.

Morgan Stanley (MS US): The fifth-biggest U.S. bank by assets was rated “neutral” by Credit Suisse, which said Morgan Stanley was “modestly profitable in the calendar first quarter but did not grow book value over the four month period.”

UniFirst Corp. (UNF US): The uniform provider reported second-quarter profit excluding some items of 94 cents a share, beating the average analyst estimate by 40 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rita Nazareth in New York at rnazareth@bloomberg.net.