News Summary

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH fell about 0.6% after the company lifted its quarterly dividend by 30% to 16.25 cents a share. UnitedHealth's board also authorized the buyback of up to 110 million shares. Shares of California Pizza Kitchen Inc CPKI surged about 10.2% after the company agreed to sell itself to private equity firm Golden Gate Capital for about $470 million.The $18.50-per-share cash offer represents an 11% premium to CPKI's closing price on Tuesday. Shares of Hormel Foods Corp HRL fell about 2.1% after the company reported a 41% rise in its fiscal second-quarter net profit and raised its projections on Wednesday. Hormel reported its quarterly net profit at $109.6 million, or $0.40 per share, up from $77.9 million, or $0.29 per share, in the year-earlier period. Its sales increased 15% to $1.96 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.41 per share on sales of $1.82 billion. Hormel now projects earnings for the fiscal year of $1.67 to $1.73 per share, up from its earlier forecast of $1.62 to $1.68 per share. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.71 per share. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.