Shares of Joy Global Inc., the world’s largest maker of underground mining equipment, rose the most in more than two years on speculation the company is a takeover target.
The Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based company gained 8.1 percent to $65.01 at Wednesday's close in New York, the biggest increase since November 2011. Trading volume surged to more than ninefold the three-month average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Joy may also be gaining on positive comments from Atlas Copco AB, the world’s largest maker of air compressors, according to Larry De Maria, a New York-based analyst for William Blair & Co. Atlas Wednesday forecast improved demand in the coming months as investment in mining equipment stabilizes.
“Joy shares moved up initially on relatively positive mining comments from Atlas Copco that orders have stabilized,” De Maria said Wednesday in an e-mail. “That along with M&A speculation have caused some short covering this morning.”
Sandy McKenzie, a spokeswoman for Joy Global, declined to comment on the speculation.
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