Avon, Express Scripts: After-Hours Trading

Shares of Avon Products(AVP) rose in late trades after the New York City-based beauty products seller said it's looking for a new chief executive officer.

Current CEO Andrea Jung is being named executive chairman as part of the company's decision to separate the chairman and CEO roles, and Avon plans to conduct an external search for a new CEO.



"I believe the time is right to separate the Chairman and CEO roles and I look forward to continuing to serve Avon as Chairman as we address the company's growing scale and opportunities," said Jung, who has been Avon's CEO since 1999.

The stock was last quoted at $17.13, up 4.2%, on volume of more than 170,000, according to Nasdaq.com. Based on Tuesday's regular session close at $16.14, the shares are down more than 40% so far in 2011.

Jung is going to work with the board to find her replacement and will continue to serve in dual roles until her successor is found.

The majority of Wall Street is in wait-and-see mode on Avon with 10 of the 16 analysts covering the shares at hold, and the remainder split between strong buy (4) and buy (2).

Express scripts

Express scripts(ESRX) sold off in extended action after the pharmacy benefits management company said in a regulatory filing that it's involved in a dispute with customer WellPoint(WLP) that could wind up in litigation between the two parties.

"The dispute, raised by WellPoint, relates to the contractual interpretation of certain terms in the PBM agreement and certain operational matters associated with Express scripts' performance thereunder," Express script! s said i n a Form 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. "Although WellPoint has raised the possibility of litigation to resolve these matters, the parties have been seeking to settle these matters through discussions, and Express scripts believes that the parties will be able to resolve these matters satisfactorily."

Shares of Express scripts were last quoted at $43.15, down 4.5%, on late volume of nearly 800,0000. Year-to-date, the stock is down nearly 15%.

Express scripts said in its filing that it doesn't expect the resolution of the dispute with WellPoint to have a material adverse impact on its business but added "there can be no assurance in this regard."

--

>To submit a news tip, send an email to: tips@thestreet.com

>To order reprints of this article, click here: Reprints

Related Articles:

Policymakers Panicked as China Rare Earth Ban Extends to the West

This year has been forgiving for the small pleasures in life

Tags: China ,Gold/Precious Metals ,Japan ,Japanese Exports ,Rare Earth ,Technology ,Top Dividend Stocks 2012

No comments:

Post a Comment