- Parkland Industries Ltd. (PKI-TSE), up $3.94 or 24.32 per cent to $20.14.
- style="list-style: none">The gasoline marketer saw its stock surge as much as 30 per cent at one point Monday on heavy volume after the small Red Deer, Alta.-based firm unveiled plans to transform itself into an income trust and pay out a big special dividend. Parkland - known for its green and red Fas Gas-brand gas station and convenience store outlets - said the move was aimed at making better use of its strong cash flow and bolstering its market price. The company also reported higher earnings for its fiscal third quarter. Under Parkland's proposal, shareholders would get either two units of the new Parkland Income Fund for each share or two units in a limited partnership controlled by the fund. The limited partnership option would allow Canadian residents to defer income tax, Parkland said. If the deal is approved at a special meeting on June 12, stockholders will also pocket a dividend of $1 a share. Shares of the company soared to a fresh 52-week high Monday, surpassing their previous top of $17. They currently sit about 210 per cent above their 52-week low of $6.50.
- Anthem Inc. (ATH-NYSE), down $3.90 (U.S.) or 5.5 per cent to $66.80 and Healthcare Inc. (TGH-NYSE), up $14.87 or 17.65 per cent to $99.12. Health insurer Anthem Inc. Trigon Healthcare Inc. were active after announcing in a $4-billion cash-and-stock marriage aimed at boosting its presence in the Southeast region of the United States. The deal will fold Trigon - Virginia's largest health insurer and provider of Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans - into Indianapolis-based Anthem's growing national network of "Blues" plans. Anthem, is the fifth-largest publicly traded health insurance company in the United States. Both Anthem and Trigon also reported higher first-quarter earnings on Monday and raised their profit outlooks for the full year. The combined company will have over 10 million medical members, with assets of nearly $9-billion and operating revenues of $13-billion.