We recently published a list of 15 Recent Activist Investor Campaigns. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) stands against other recent activist investor campaigns.
Economic uncertainty and market volatility are some of the factors fueling activist investor campaigns in 2025. In the first quarter alone, there was a 17% jump in activist campaigns, affirming how high-profile activist investors are becoming agitated and increasingly pushing for strategic changes aimed at unlocking shareholder value.
“We are in a phase where activists continue to take advantage of all the uncertainties,” said Jim Rossman, global head of shareholder advisory at Barclays. “In early 2025 we have seen more fights, more settlements and more board seats won by the activists than we did this time a year ago.”
The US remains the epicenter of shareholder activism, accounting for over half of the first quarter’s campaigns. Japan comes second with 16 campaigns, accounting for a 45% increase compared to the same period last year. The fresh efforts this year follow a record number of activist shareholders targeting businesses around the world in 2024. Additionally, the campaigns are on the rise owing to the market instability caused by President Donald Trump’s tariffs, widespread layoffs at U.S. government agencies, and recessionary fears.
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According to a Barclays report, many activist investors remain focused on pushing for board changes. It also emerged that activists increasingly have their way as part of the campaigns, having won 51 board seats, up 34% from the same quarter a year ago.
Secondly, activist investors are also agitating for strategic and operational changes, believing they could help unlock hidden value. Finally, 26% of the campaigns pushed for merger and acquisition activity, a significant drop from the historical average of 45%.
Demands for merger & acquisition actions, such as selling a firm or selling business units, are still largely ignored, appearing in only around 25% of campaigns. Since the worldwide deal volume reached a record high in 2021, M&A requests have decreased by around half.
Although fewer activist campaigns were submitted by sustainability-minded shareholder activists to business annual meetings this year, conflicts on issues like corporate diversity initiatives still exist. As of February 21, investors pressuring corporations on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues submitted 355 shareholder proposals, compared to 536 at the same time in 2024 and 542 at the same time in 2023.
The decline came amid growing concerns that big investors will not support the measures. Additionally, ESG-focused activist investors also remained wary that Republican regulators would not approve their resolutions to go to a vote. Additionally, the decline came as companies became wary of unnecessary public battles, opting to make changes to avoid unwanted proxy fights.
Activism is also becoming a popular strategy for newcomers, including freshly founded hedge funds that have never launched a campaign before. These funds are anxious to make a return in difficult times and are emboldened by the success of others.
According to the data, eleven so-called first-timers ran campaigns during the quarter. Looking ahead to the remainder of 2025, Barclays bankers anticipate that the majority of activity will continue to be concentrated on U.S. corporations and that more companies will have to respond to shareholder demands.
Our Methodology
We sifted through financial media reports and news articles to identify 15 recent activist investor campaigns. We then examined some of the strategic changes that the activist investors are agitating and the impact they are likely to have in the long run. Finally, we ranked the activist campaigns in ascending order based on when they occurred.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
A refinery manager walking through an array of pipes and pumping systems, recognizing the company’s vast refining power.
Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX)
Value of Stake $2.5 Billion
Elliott Management Activist Campaign Initiated: February 2025
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 47
Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) is a diversified energy company that processes, transports and markets fuels and products globally. It also boasts business interests in refining, midstream, chemicals, and marketing. The company has underperformed in the overall energy sector, its stock tanking 43% over the past year. Amid the underperformance, activist hedge fund Elliott Management is ramping up pressure and pushing for sweeping changes in a bid to turn around the company’s prospects.
According to Elliott Management, CEO Mark Lashier has been disparaging the value of Phillips 66’s impressive assets and competitive advantage by claiming that the company is fairly valued. The activist hedge fund is already pushing for an overhaul of corporate governance and improvements in the refining business. It has also nominated four directors to the Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) board.
The activist investor has also sent a letter to investors urging them to consider plans that include pushing for asset divestment, including the midstream arm, to unlock shareholder value.
“At this point, it has become clear that sweeping changes are needed — changes to the company’s structure, its operations and its board,” Elliott said in the filing.
Overall, PSX ranks 6th on our list of recent activist investor campaigns. While we acknowledge the potential of PSX as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than PSX but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.