These targets will likely resist demands

Article Excerpt

We keep an eye on activist investors, as they tend to look for the same things we do—companies with undervalued assets that they can sell or spin off to improve shareholder value. Two recent targets, Kinaxis and News Corp., have attractive assets. However, they will probably resist activist demands, which could hurt their stock prices. KINAXIS INC. $157 is a hold. The company (Toronto symbol KXS; Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 28.2 million; Market cap: $4.4 billion; No dividend paid; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.kinaxis.com) provides cloud-based subscription software that big companies use to manage their supply chains. The company’s shares began trading in June 2014 at $13 a share. Kinaxis’s main product is RapidResponse, which helps manage supply, demand, inventory, order fulfillment, and capacity planning. Its applications include matching production and inventory to demand, analyzing sales patterns, and forecasting. Activist shareholder Daventry Group, which owns 1.4% of Kinaxis’ stock, wants the company to put itself up for sale. The activist points out that Kinaxis’s shares are down…