Dan Gold’s QVT Financial plans to support an activist investor’s proxy fight with drugmaker Vivus, known for its obesity drugs. The New York hedge fund, which owns about 8.3 percent of the stock, told Reuters it will vote for all nine directors proposed by investor First Manhattan Co., Vivus’ largest shareholder with a 9.9 percent stake.
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Wall Street has mixed feelings about hedge fund favorite Family Dollar Stores after the discount retailer reported fiscal third-quarter results on Wednesday. Barclays downgraded the shares to Equal Weight, even though it acknowledged the company continues to be successful in driving sales by diversifying its merchandise mix. “But the external environment remains challenging, and low-income shoppers are still limiting their purchases of discretionary merchandise,” it added in a note sent to clients on Thursday.
On the other hand, Credit Suisse slightly raised its earnings estimates for fiscal 2013 and fiscal 2014 and lifted its target price to $75 from $65, even as it acknowledged that the recent quarterly results “clearly show the company remains pressured by macro headwinds and some internal missteps.” Even so, it told clients that management provided a better than expected update and “seems to suggest the worst may be over.”
Sure enough, the stock surged more than 2 percent to close at $69.97 on Thursday. At the end of the first quarter, activist Trian Fund Management was the largest shareholder with nearly 9 million shares, or 7.8 percent of the total outstanding. However, after its takeover offer was rejected, it reduced this stake to a little more than 8.4 million shares, or 7.35 percent of the total. Meanwhile Paulson & Co. owned 5 million shares at the end of the first quarter while Highfields Capital Management L.P. owned more than 4.3 million shares.
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The Taconic Opportunity Offshore Fund, a New York-based event driven fund, was up 9.07 percent in the first half of the year.
