Activist frenemies, continued ramp up into this Tuesday. Bit of news, lagging on stories, for April 28 below. Tip us off @activiststocks, sign up for the free daily activist email (more iterations here), and ICYMI the latest newsletter is here.
News-
- Barington Capital has been a letter penning fool when it comes to Eastern Co., having put out another letter today. Barington is disputing a number of Eastern’s comments in this letter [letter here]
- JCP Investment went active at Casella Waste, owning 5% and citing corporate governance concerns and chronic underperformance [letter here]
- The Alliance Trust and Elliott Management shenanigans is finally over, the day before the annual meeting. Elliott got two of its nominees put on the board. Look for cost controls and corporate governance changes to be the focus.
- River Road is gearing up for a proxy battle at PICO Holdings, slightly upping its stake and filing proxy materials.
- Elmwood Group continues to buy into TimkenSteel. Now owning 9.6%. The idea is that Elmwood could be making a play for its competitor.
Stories-
- @mattkrantz at USA Today put together a piece on 19 companies in the S&P 500 where activists own more than 10% of the company. These 19 stocks have outperformed the S&P 500 by 230 basis points YTD. Key takeaways: “Companies wind up being better managed thanks to the pressures of activists…” and “If there’s a company that’s in the sights of activists, it’s Consol. The energy exploration and pipeline company, is nearly 20% owned by Southeastern Asset Management [link]
