Starboard Value Warns of Looming Election Contest at Insperity Inc. (NSP), Plus 3 Other Activist Moves

In a separate 13D filing, Starboard Value LP reported owning 6.69 million shares of Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE:DRI), which constitute 5.2% of the company’s total shares. This marks a decrease of 1.29 million shares since the activist fund filed on the company earlier this month. Starboard has been gradually trimming its position in Darden Restaurants over the course of this year, as revealed by several 13Ds filed with the SEC. It should be noted that the feared activist investor managed to replace the entire Board of the owner of full-service dining restaurants in 2014, after winning shareholder support for all 12 of Starboard’s nominated directors. Under Mr. Smith’s lookout, Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE:DRI) implemented effective cost cutting measures and completed the spin-off of six LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants and 418 restaurant properties into a real estate investment trust, called Four Corners Property Trust.

The operator of restaurant chains Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse generated sales of $3.30 billion during the six months that ended November 29, which was an increase of 4.5% year-over-year. The company anticipates combined Darden same-restaurant sales to increase by 2.5%-to-3.0% in fiscal year 2016, with an increase in Olive Garden same-restaurant sales ranging from 1.5% to 2.5% and an increase in LongHorn Steakhouse sales of between 3.0% and 4.0%. Shares of Darden Restaurants have advanced by 34% over the past two years, which may explain Starboard’s recent sales. The stock is priced at 17.2-times expected earnings, significantly below the forward P/E multiple of 24.3 for the Restaurants industry. Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management reported owning 3.49 million shares of Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in its 13F filing for the fourth quarter of 2015.

In a recently-submitted SEC filing, Joseph A. Jolson’s Harvest Capital Strategies LLC revealed the delivery of a formal notice to Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT) of its plans to nominate three director candidates for election to the company’s Board of Directors at its 2016 annual meeting of shareholders. As revealed by the filing, Harvest Capital owns 3.64 million shares of Green Dot, which make up 7.3% of the company’s outstanding shares. The investment firm has publicly voiced its concerns with the financial, operational, and stock performance of the provider of reloadable prepaid debit cards and related services under the leadership of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Steve Streit. Harvest Capital sent a letter to the company’s Board in January voicing its discontent with the “continued mismanagement and value destruction” at Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT). The investment firm also claimed that Green Dot can double its bottom-line results over the next three years should the troubled company implement certain initiatives presented by Harvest Capital’s team. The removal of the current CEO, reconstruction of the Board, adjustment of cost-structure and optimization of capital structure are a few of those initiatives that could assist the company in achieving a turnaround. “Despite its strong brand and attractive business model, Green Dot has consistently delivered disappointing results for many years under CEO Steve Streit’s stewardship, while the Board has proven incapable of holding him accountable”,  said one official of Harvest Capital. Shares of Green Dot have advanced by a whopping 38% since the beginning of 2016. The smart money sentiment towards the company declined in the fourth quarter, as the number of funds with stakes in Green Dot dropped to 12 from 16 quarter-over-quarter. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT) by 17% in the December quarter, ending 2015 with 1.46 million shares.