Activist attention should spur them

Article Excerpt

We continue to track the moves of activist investors, since they look for the same things we do: undervalued companies with the potential to boost their share prices with spinoffs, asset sales or the sale of the entire company. Here are two activist-targeted firms that are worthwhile buys for aggressive investors. WALT DISNEY CO. $85 is still a buy. The company (New York symbol DIS; Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $153.0 billion; Dividend suspended in May 2020; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.thewaltdisneycompany.com) is an entertainment and media conglomerate headquartered in Burbank, California. It’s also the world’s largest theme-park operator. Through the stock, investors tap Disney’s extensive portfolio of entertainment properties and brands. It monetizes them through film and TV production, distribution, merchandising, theme-park attractions, as well as cable and streaming subscriptions. Activist investor Nelson Peltz, through Trian Fund Management, recently increased his stake in Disney to about 30 million shares, or about 2% of the total. Earlier this year, Peltz dropped his demand for a..