Tag - Ubsh

National Western Life Insurance Co. (Nasdaq:NWLI), United America Indemnity Ltd. (Nasdaq:INDM) and K Swiss Inc. (Nasdaq:KSWS) are among the new 52-week lows in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Cross Country Healthcare Inc. (Nasdaq:CCRN), Atlas Energy Resources LLC (Nasdaq:ATN), Union Bankshares Corp. (Nasdaq:UBSH), Southwest Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq:OKSB), Kansas City Life Insurance Co. (Nasdaq:KCLI) and PacWest Bancorp (Nasdaq:PACW).

Small-cap stocks remained sharply lower into midday, down 4.05% and unable to sustain a morning rally for the third consecutive day. Market Watch highlights so far today include:

• When President Bush spoke this morning, small caps were off about 1.2% and the Dow was down about 80 points. The President made a surprisingly quick prepared remark, took no questions, and the began falling hard … within an hour after his appearance the Dow was down more than 350 points and small caps were off 4%.
• After multi-year highs a few months ago, cattle/hog prices are down on fears that meat consumption will suffer in a global recession.
• Gold/silver stocks and oil/energy stocks are the weakest sectors in today's trading. Footwear and retail home improvement are up fractionally. Gold is currently off 10%.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Audiovox (Nasdaq:VOXX) swings to Q2 loss. Shares of the electronic products distributor shoot up 16%.
• Union Bankshares (Nasdaq:UBSH) upgraded by Robert W. Baird; shares surge 17%.
• Stifel Nicolaus initiates coverage on Umpqua Holdings (Nasdaq:UMPQ) with a “hold” rating. Shares jump 21%.
• Airline small-cap UAL Corp. (Nasdaq:UAUA) announced Thursday it will lay off 414 mechanics; stock is currently up 8.4%.
• Private equity firm Prospect Capital (Nasdaq:PSEC) to repurchase up . . .

Trico Bancshares (Nasdaq:TCBK), Omega Flex Inc (Nasdaq:OFLX) and BancFirst Corp. (Nasdaq:BANF) are among the new 52-week highs in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Union Bankshares Corp. (Nasdaq:UBSH), Arden Group Inc. (Nasdaq:ARDNA), State Auto Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:STFC), Trustco Bank Corp. (Nasdaq:TRST), Harleysville National Corp. (Nasdaq:HNBC) and NBT Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq:NBTB).

Here are the new 52-week highs among small caps:

Stocks are moving down while the price of oil rises due to election tensions in Nigeria.  In small-cap action, shares of Union Bankshares Corporation (Nasdaq: UBSH) are down after an analyst’s target price reduction, while Community Shores Bank Corporation (Nasdaq: CSHB) reported lower quarterly earnings.

At 2:34 PM the Russell 2000 had lost 2.11 points, or 0.25 percent, to 826.75.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 29.74 points, or 0.23 percent, to 12,932.24.

The following small-cap companies were making news in after-hours trading Friday:

Shares of Ladish Co. Inc. (Nasdaq: LDSH) dropped $4.17, or nearly 10%, to $38.06 in after-hours trading today after the company reported first quarter revenue and earnings that fell significantly below analysts’ expectations. The Cudahy, Wis.-based aircraft parts manufacturer said unplanned equipment downtime limited incremental sales and earnings. It also cited higher raw material prices as being dilutive to earnings.

Biopure Corp. (Nasdaq: BPUR) announced late today that it will transfer the listing of its common stock from The Nasdaq Global Market to the Nasdaq Capital Market. It will begin trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market on April 23 under its existing symbol. (no after hours share price available) The Cambridge, Mass.-based biotech company received notice last October that it was in noncompliance with the Nasdaq global market because its share price had fallen below $1 for 30 consecutive days. It has another 180 days to get into compliance or it will face delisting from the exchange. The stock closed at $0.49 today.

San Diego-based CardioDynamics International Corp. (Nasdaq: CDIC) said today that it is in noncompliance with the Nasdaq exchange because its common stock has closed below $1 per share for 30 consecutive trading days. The healthcare equipment company has 180 calendar days, or until Oct. 15, 2007, to regain compliance. (No after hours activity available) CardioDynamics’ stock was up $0.02, or 2.5%, at $0.80 on higher-than-normal volume.