Specialty Chemicals

• Air Products & Chemicals (NYSE: APD) raised its offer for Airgas (NYSE: ARG) to $65.50 from $63.50 per share, equalling $5.5 billion • Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) announced the appointment of former Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) CEO Mark Hurd as co-President • Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) added Oracle...

Zep Inc. (NYSE: ZEP) and service provider of a wide range of cleaning and maintenance solutions, announced the completion of the previously announced acquisition of certain brands and assets and the assumption of certain liabilities of the North American operations of Waterbury Companies, Inc. for...

Cytec Industries Inc.’s (CYT) MACD indicator has entered into bullish territory with a reading of 0.0330. The Zacks #1 Rank (“Strong Buy”) stock increased more than 4% to $49.37 in morning trade. The Zacks Consensus Estimate on the company’s earnings for 2010 surged 96 cents over the past 2 months...

Jefferies & Co. is out with a research report covering the chemical stock sector. It rates Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) at a Buy. In a note to clients, Jefferies writes, "We believe chemical shares already partly discount a growth scare in Q4, reflecting concerns that seasonal weakness...

Chicago, IL – August 31, 2010 - Stocks in this week's article include Ballantyne Strong, Inc. (AMEX: BTN), Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF), iGATE Corp. (NASDAQ: IGTE), Quaker Chemical Corp. (NYSE: KWR) and Compania Cervecerias Unidas S.A. (NYSE: CCU). Kevin Matras looks at the powerful combination of...

Ferro Corporation (NYSE: FOE), announced today the final results of its tender offer for all of its outstanding 6.50% Convertible Senior Notes due 2013, which expired at midnight, New York City time, on August 30, 2010. Ferro has purchased all of the $100,504,000 in aggregate principal amount of...

KBR (NYSE: KBR) announced that its Downstream business unit has been awarded a contract to provide engineering and procurement services to Chemetall Foote Corp. (a subsidiary of Rockwood Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: ROC)) for the addition of lithium hydroxide production at its current operation in Kings...

Quaker Chemical (KWR) has been hot since being featured as a Zacks Rank Buy in early June. Company Description Quaker Chemical is a chemical company providing services and chemicals for the steel, auto, mining and various other industries. The Philadelphia-based company has over 1,200 employees...

Balchem Corp.’s (BCPC) share price has entered into oversold territory with a stochastic value of 12.57. The Zacks Consensus Estimate on the company’s earnings 2010 increased 2 cents over the past month to $1.09 per share. Balchem is a Zacks #2 Rank (“Buy”) company. BALCHEM CP CL-B (BCPC): Free...

PolyOne Corporation (NYSE: POL) was upgraded by Longbow Research from "neutral" to "buy." POL’s shares closed at $9.36 yesterday. PolyOne’s quarterly earnings surged 2408.17% y/y. BB&T Capital upgraded Greenbrier Companies (NYSE: GBX) from "hold" to "buy." GBX’s shares closed at $9.85 yesterday...

Analysts at Longbow Research upgrade A Schulman Inc (NASDAQ: SHLM) from "neutral" to "buy." The target price for SHLM is set to $23. SHLM’s shares gained 2.23% to close at $17.43 yesterday. More Analyst Ratings here

Analysts at Longbow Research upgrade PolyOne Corporation (NYSE: POL) from "neutral" to "buy." The target price for POL is set to $13. POL’s shares moved up 1.96% to close at $9.36 yesterday. More Analyst Ratings here

In a Form 4 filed after the bell today, Valhi Inc. (NYSE: VHI) Chairman of the Board, Harold Simmons, reported that he purchased 76,003 shares of VHI on August 19th-20th for an average price of $15.33. The transaction totaled $1,165,125. Mr. Simmons owns 318,183 direct shares and 106,744174...

Zep Inc.’s (ZEP) share price has entered into oversold territory with a stochastic value of 18.74. The Zacks Consensus Estimate on the company’s earnings for the year ending August 2011 has moved up 2 cents over the past month to $1.30 per share. Zep is a Zacks #2 Rank (“Buy”) company. ZEP INC (ZEP...

J.P.Morgan Chase & Co. is dropping coverage on Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ: IOSP). Its final rating was Neutral. In its last research report, J.P. Morgan writes, "Following the settlement of its multi-year investigation by SEC, DOJ, OFAC and SFO related to the Oil for Food Program, Innospec was sued...