According to the Form 4 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at the end of January, Glenn J. Krevlin’s Glenhill Advisors acquired 38,980 common shares of Joint Corp (NASDAQ:JYNT) at $6.44 per share on the open market. Following this transaction, the hedge fund’s current holding in the company amounts to 1.19 million shares. On the same day, Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE:FIG)’s CFO Daniel Bass, was awarded around 65,000 Class A Shares, bringing his stake in the company to 263,600 shares. John Konawalik and David Brooks were granted 52,000 Class A Shares each. The aforementioned executives now own 177,000 shares and 210,600 shares, respectively.
Glenhill Advisors is a New York-based hedge fund that was founded by its current manager Glenn J. Krevlin in 2001. The firm primarily employs a long/short equity strategy, while focusing on companies with small market capitalizations. The hedge fund has a diversified portfolio, which is valued at around $1.3 billion, with around a third of its holdings stemming from the consumer discretionary sector. Furthermore, none of the positions held by the firm account for more than 6% of its equity portfolio. According to its latest 13F filing Glenhill Advisors’ top 3 picks for the end of the third quarter included Dicks Sporting Goods Inc (NYSE:DKS) and Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc (NASDAQ:SBGI). During this time, the firm was betting the most on W. R. Grace & Co (NYSE:GRA), which was its largest position following a 187% increase to its stake during the third quarter. Richard Chilton’s Chilton Investment Company was also bullish regarding this stock, which continues to be the firm’s biggest bet according to its last 13F filing.
The latest increase in Glenhill Advisors’ stake in Joint Corp just 2 days after the company elected to new members to its Board of Directors. One of these new board members is William “Bill” Fields, which has more than 25 years of experience in the retail industry. Mr. Fields began his career at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT), where he rose through the ranks and held several executive positions, before going on to serve as chairman of other top retail firms. The other new board member appointed by Joint Corp is Ron DaVella, who spent 34 years as Audit Manager and Audit Partner at Deloitte. During this time, Mr. DaVella gained vast experience in everything from mergers and acquisitions, to financial controls, and internal reporting. Hence, the two latest additions to the board of directors, will allow the company to boast a management team with a deeper knowledge of the retail industry, as well as greater financial expertise.
Joint Corp (NASDAQ:JYNT) is a franchisor of chiropractic clinics operating in the United States since 2010. In addition to the newly elected members to its Board of Directors, the company appointed a new CFO at the end of 2014. Around the same time, the firm revealed it had achieved a third quarter revenue of $1.8 million, representing a 23% increase compared to the same quarter in 2013. Hence, Glenhill Advisors has reason to remain bullish regarding the equity, which has gained 5.8% since the beginning of the year.
Shares of Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE:FIG) on the other hand, have not been performing as well. Not only has the stock lost around 12% of its value of the past year, but Credit Suisse has recently downgraded the equity from an “outperform” to a “neutral” rating. Nevertheless, the company’s aforementioned executives have reason to remain optimistic, as the investment management firm enjoys significant backing from major institutional investors. Amongst the financial institutions betting on Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE:FIG) is Jody Lanasa and Vivian Lau’s Serengeti Asset Management, which holds a stake of 7.6 million shares. Michael Barnes and Arif Inayatullah’s Tricadia Capital Management also seems quite bullish regarding this stock, as it owns a position amounting to 5.4 million shares. Another financial institution betting on Fortress Investment Group is Ric Dillon’s Diamond Hill Capital, with a holding of 3.5 million shares. Furthermore, the equity has gained almost 60% over a five year period, thus turning out to be a profitable long-term investment.
Disclosure: none.
