Superior Industries International Inc. named aluminum industry executive Jack A. Hockema to its board of directors on Thursday. The addition of Hockema, chief executive of Kaiser Aluminum Corp., brings to eight the number of board members for Superior, a Van Nuys aluminum wheel manufacturer for the auto industry. Superior Board Chairman Margaret Dano said Hockema brings knowledge about managing change and transforming complex businesses. “His fresh perspective and industry expertise will be valuable assets to Superior in the years to come,” Dano said in a prepared statement. Hockema became chief executive at Kaiser, in Foothill Ranch, in 2001 and was named board chairman in 2006. He previously had served as president of the Kaiser Aluminum Fabricated products division. Shares closed up 3 cents, or a fraction of a percent, to $19.23 on the New York Stock Exchange. American Homes 4 Rent Chairman B. Wayne Hughes has acquired 1 million shares of the company’s stock on the open market, according to regulatory filings. Hughes, who founded the Agoura Hills real estate investment trust in 2011, acquired the stock at a weighted average price of about $17 a share through his BW Hughes Living Trust. American Homes is the second-largest single-family landlord in the nation, owning 30,877 single-family properties in 22 states as of Sept. 30. It has been aggressively securitizing proceeds from its portfolio to acquire more housing. Last month, it announced a securitization that is expected to bring gross proceeds of $528 million. The company raised $488 million in September and $481 million in May through similar transactions. Shares closed up 13cents, or a fraction of a percent, to $17.20 on the New York Stock Exchange. Amgen Inc. has increased its quarterly dividend and determined the pricing for a promising cancer drug. The Thousand Oaks pharmaceutical company announced Wednesday it will raise its quarterly dividend by 30 percent to 79 cents a share. The dividend will be paid on March 6 to all stockholders of record at the close of trading on Feb. 12. Also, various media outlets reported that Amgen’s new leukemia drug, Blincyto, would sell for about $178,000 a patient, making it one of the costliest cancer treatments on the market. The drug was approved by the FDA earlier this month. Shares of Amgen on Thursday closed up 5 dollars, or 3 percent, to $168.48 on the Nasdaq.
