Little known activist hedge fund Wynnefield Capital Management said it entered into a confidentiality agreement with Global Power Equipment Group. The arrangement stems from the New York firm’s recommendation of two candidates to be appointed to the board of directors of the design, engineering and manufacturing firm, which has a market capitalization of $39 million. Wynnefield is also currently engaged in a proxy fight with Houston-based Omega Protein Corp., which sells fish-related products, having nominated three directors to its board. The company has a $378 million market cap. Wynnefield, headed by Nelson Obus had $272 million under management at year-end. Its Wynnefield Partners Small Cap Value was down 7.27 percent in the first quarter and lost 2.74 percent last year. Wynnefield Partners Small Cap Value I lost 7.15 percent in the first quarter and 1.13 percent last year.
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Shares of hedge fund favorite Apple dropped about 2 percent on Friday to close at $109.85 on reports that iPhone sales are sluggish. At year-end, Apple was the fourth most widely held stock among all hedge funds tracked by Goldman, Sachs.
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D.E. Shaw disclosed that it owned 5 percent of the shares of Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings as of April 5.