Last Week's Top Stock Movers: Scanning for Profits; ITT Fails

Alamy There are plenty of stocks going up -- and down -- in any given week. The gainers inspire us to keep investing. The decliners keep greed in check while reminding us about the risks of the equity markets. Let's go over some of last week's best and worst performers. Pike (PIKE) -- Up 49 percent last week The market's biggest winner of last week was Pike, a specialty construction and engineering firm that received a bid to be taken private. J. Eric Pike -- the firm's chairman and CEO -- is teaming up with private equity firm Court Square Capital Partners to buy out shareholders at $12 a share. It's a fair premium, pricing the buyout at a better than 50 percent premium to where the stock was trading when it was announced. A few attorneys are trying to smoke out investors who feel that the CEO-led privatization push isn't fair, but it's likely to stick at that kind of healthy markup. Pike shares may have traded in the low teens last summer, but that was before revenue and earnings began heading the wrong way. Most shareholders should be more than happy to take the money and run. RadNet (RDNT) -- Up 34 percent last week Operating a network of 251 facilities that perform outpatient diagnostic imaging services is looking good for RadNet. The stock moved sharply higher after a strong quarterly report. Revenue inched slighting higher as MRI and CT scan volume increased modestly during the period. However, the real star in the report was RadNet's bottom line. Its cost-cutting and debt-slashing efforts paid off with net income soaring to $0.12 a share after clocking in at a $0.07 a share a year earlier. Analysts were only holding out for $0.05 a share. RadNet also helped improve its standing by boosting its guidance for all of 2014. You don't need any of RadNet's fancy imaging equipment to see that that's a healthy sign. Trex (TREX) -- Up 25 percent last week It was a good week for a pair of home improvement specialists. Shares of CaesarStone (CSTE) moved 20 percent higher after the maker of quartz slabs used in kitchen countertops experienced a 55 percent spike in sales. However, the bigger mover was Trex, the country's leading maker of wood-alternative decking materials. Trex impressed by posting revenue and adjusted earnings growth of 23 percent and 62 percent, respectively. The company behind the long-lasting weather-resistant outdoor decks also issued revenue guidance for the new quarter that was just ahead of what analysts were forecasting. ITT Educational Services (ESI) -- Down 40 percent last week The market's biggest decliner was ITT Educational Services. The for-profit educator plunged after an asset sale came undone. A deal was in place three months ago for ITT to sell as many as two dozen of its sites and then lease them back. The move would've helped fortify ITT's liquidity. Unfortunately the deal fell apart, and ITT's CEO stepped down in the aftermath. RetailMeNot (SALE) -- Down 32 percent last week It was a rough week for RetailMeNot, whose stock markdown became a deal worthy of the site itself. RetailMeNot operates a popular website where website coupon codes are published. It posted another quarter of analyst-besting results on the bottom line, but revenue fell short of expectations. It also warned of a sequential slide in the new quarter when the pros were holding out for a gain. RetailMeNot relies on organic traffic generation, and an algorithm change at Google (GOOG) earlier this year appears to be reducing traffic to the site. Hanger (HGR) -- Down 28 percent last week It was easy to foresee that it would be a down week for Hanger when it announced on Tuesday afternoon that it would be delaying its quarterly results announcement until Thursday. The maker of orthotic and prosthetic devices needed some more time to complete the accounting for its cost of materials estimate. The eventual report was a disappointment. Revenue and earnings fell short of Wall Street targets, and Hanger went on to lower its outlook for the entire year. More from Rick Aristotle Munarriz
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