Stocks to watch Wednesday: Hartford, Aflac, Zynga

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Among the stocks that could see active trade in Wednesday’s session are Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., Weight Watchers International Inc. and Zynga Inc.

Key companies on the earnings calendar for Wednesday include Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSK)   (NASDAQ:CMCSA) , CBS Corp. (NYSE:CBS)   (NYSE:CBS.A) , Nvidia Corp.(NASDAQ:NVDA) , Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) , NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) , Deere & Co. (NYSE:DE) , Terex Corp. (NYSE:TEX) , Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) , Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) , Marriott International Inc. (NYSE:MAR) , Jarden Corp. (NYSE:JAH) , HanesBrands Inc. (NYSE:HBI) , Dean Foods Co. (NYSE:DF) , Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) , Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE:CLF) , Mine Safety Appliances Co. (NYSE:MSA) , Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE:DVN) , Georgia Gulf Corp. (NYSE:GGC) , Vulcan Materials Co. (NYSE:VMC)  and Henry Schein Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC) , among others.

Hartford Financial (NYSE:HIG)  issued a response late Tuesday to hedge fund billionaire John Paulson’s proposal that the company spin off its property-and-casualty business from its life-insurance business as a way to improve shareholder value. “We recognize there are potential benefits to a separation of the P&C and life companies. ... While there are challenges to successfully executing a separation, we welcome Paulson’s views and look forward to continued dialogue with him and other shareholders. We are evaluating the company’s strategy and business portfolio with the goal of delivering shareholder value. We remain objective and pragmatic about the best ways to achieve this goal,” the Hartford, Conn.-based company said. Separating the two businesses, Paulson said in a letter to Chairman, President and Chief Executive Liam McGee, would result in an expanded multiple on book value. Paulson also estimated that if the two businesses were separately traded, they would have a value of $32 a share, or more than 60% higher than the share price at the close of Tuesday’s regular session. Paulson & Co. holds an 8.4% stake in Hartford Financial.

Along with reporting 2011 results and issuing its financial forecast for 2012, Weight Watchers (NYSE:WTW)  said it plans a “modified Dutch auction” tender offer next week for up to $720 million in common stock. The tender would be set in a range from not less than $72 a share and not greater than $83. It’s expected to remain open for at least 20 business days. In light of the impending tender, the New York-based company also announced an agreement to purchase shares from majority stockholder Artal Holdings so that the number of Weight Watchers shares that the Luxembourg company owns will hold steady at about 52% of outstanding common. If the tender is fully subscribed, Weight Watchers said it would buy back some $1.5 billion of common stock in all including Artal. Based on the number of outstanding shares as of Monday, this would mean a reduction of nearly 25% to slightly more than 28%. Weight Watchers said it anticipates using new borrowings under an amended and extended version of its existing credit facilities to fund the repurchases.

Aflac Inc. (NYSE:AFL)  said it entered into agreements to swap into Japanese yen the $750 million in dollar-denominated senior notes that the Columbus, Ga.-based insurer issued Feb. 10. The agreements cover $400 million of 5-year fixed-rate notes as well as $350 million of 10-year fixed-rate notes. The swap arrangement “significantly lowers the effective interest rate on the senior notes ... and provides future flexibility with our capital position,” said President and Chief Financial Officer Kriss Cloninger in a statement.

Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE:RAD)  said it expects to close Feb. 27 on an offering of $481 million of 9.25% senior notes due 2020. Net proceeds will be used in connection with the company’s tender offer for outstanding 8.625% senior notes due 2015 and a related consent solicitation, the Camp Hill, Pa.-based drugstore chain said. Rite Aid also said it will call for redemption any of the 8.625% notes due 2015 not duly tendered.

The board of Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE:FL)  approved a $400 million program for repurchasing common stock. The program, set to run through January 2015, replaces the New York-based retailer’s previous $250 million buyback program. The board also cleared a 9% increase in the quarterly dividend, to 18 cents a share from 16.5 cents previously. It’s payable April 27 to stockholders of record as of April 13, Foot Locker said.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNY)  priced an offering of 7.5 million common shares at $10.75 each, the Cambridge, Mass.-based company said. The public offering’s expected to close Feb. 21. All of the shares up for sale are being offered by Alnylam, which had about 42.7 million weighted average common shares outstanding in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31. Underwriters will have a 30-day option to buy up to 1.05 million additional shares if demand warrants.

The board of PolyOne Corp. (NYSE:POL)  approved a 25% increase in the company’s quarterly dividend, to 5 cents a share. It’s payable April 5 to holders of record as of March 14, the Cleveland-based supplier of specialized polymer materials said.

The board of Sigma-Aldrich Corp. (NASDAQ:SIAL)  voted to increase its quarterly dividend by 11%, to 20 cents a share. The dividend’s payable March 15 to holders of record as of March 1, the St. Louis-based life-sciences and technology company said.

Tuesday earnings recap

Issuing its first financial results as a public company, Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA)  reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $435 million, or $1.22 a share. The San Francisco-based games company closely associated with Facebook earned $43 million, or 5 cents a share, in the final three months of 2010. On an adjusted basis, Zynga would have shown fourth-quarter earnings of 5 cents a share, as revenue leapt 59% to $311.2 million. Analysts in a FactSet Research survey had, on average, been looking for Zynga to post adjusted earnings of 3 cents a share on revenue of $302 million. The company also projected adjusted earnings for 2012 in a range of 24 cents to 28 cents a share.  Read more on Zynga

By MarketWatch Feb. 15, 2012, 6:44 a.m. EST