Starboard Value LP, the activist fund run by Jeff Smith, increased its holdings of Macy’s Inc., Media General Inc. and Baxter International Inc., and disclosed new stakes in four companies including New York REIT Inc.
Starboard’s Yahoo! Inc. holding remained unchanged at 7.1 million shares at the end of the fourth quarter, according to a regulatory filing Friday. The hedge fund exited stakes in nine companies in the quarter, including LSB Industries Inc. and General Mills Inc.
Other new stakes are in insurer Cigna Corp. and snack-food maker Snyder’s-Lance Inc. Starboard’s 9.1 per cent stake in Four Corners Property Trust Inc. came from a spinoff by former activist target Darden Restaurants Inc., and was previously disclosed.
Starboard - one of the most prolific U.S. activists - has ongoing campaigns at retailer Macy’s and web portal Yahoo. The firm typically targets small- and mid-cap public companies it considers undervalued, pushing executives and directors for changes such as unit spinoffs and asset sales.
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