Stocks to watch: Chesapeake, Exxon
Chesapeake reaches an agreement with Icahn. Exxon considers exporting liquefied natural gas.
By Joseph Woelfel, TheStreet.comChesapeake Energy (CHK) has settled a campaign raised by activist investor Carl Icahn to give shareholders of the struggling oil and gas company four board seats. Chesapeake said after "extensive discussions" with its two largest shareholders, Southeastern Asset Management and Icahn, it has agreed to add four new independent directors to replace four existing independent directors who will resign from Chesapeake's board. Three of the new independent directors will be proposed by Southeastern, and the fourth will be proposed by Icahn.
Exxon Mobil (XOM) is considering exporting liquefied natural gas from the United States, according to reports. Exxon is North America's largest natural gas producer. Natural gas prices in the U.S. are at their lowest in a decade. Shares of Exxon Mobil ticked down 38 cents, or 0.49%, to $77.45 in premarket trading Tuesday.
FedEx (FDX) announced it is raising its quarterly dividend by a penny to 14 cents a share. The dividend is payable on July 2.
Google (GOOG) will buy Silicon Valley startup Meebo. Meebo boasts 100 million monthly active users. "We are always looking for better ways to help users share content and connect with others across the Web, just as they do in real life,'' Google said. "With the Meebo team's expertise in social publisher tools, we believe they will be a great fit with the Google Plus team.'' Terms of the deal weren't disclosed, but reports last month put the price tag at about $100 million.
Coffee company Starbucks (SBUX) has reached an agreement to acquire La Boulange Bakery, a private San Francisco chain, for $100 million in cash. Shares of Starbucks fell 1.76% to $52.95 in premarket trading Tuesday.
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrances (ULTA) is scheduled to report first-quarter results after Tuesday's closing bell. Analysts are calling for earnings of 53 cents a share in the April-ended period on revenue of $473.9 million.
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