Nelson Peltz may not want another proxy battle with E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co (NYSE:DD), but he doesn’t like to lose money either the influential activist investor said at an investment conference in New York today. Furthermore, the billionaire, who helms Trian Partners, said that losing the drawn-out proxy fight he had with the chemicals firm did major harm to investors.
“It has been a significant loss for shareholders. [The] stock has gone from $80 when I was on your show March 12th […] and the stock was $59 yesterday. But we haven’t sold our shares, that’s not our style, and we’re going to wait and watch and see what management and the board will do from here forward,” Peltz said. He also revealed that E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co (NYSE:DD) Chairman and CEO Ellen Kullman was in his office last week and that he told her, “The second least-favorite thing that I like to do is have another proxy fight, but the first least-favorite thing that I like to do is to see DuPont next year at this price.”
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Since their proxy fight, E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co (NYSE:DD)’s shares have lost about a fifth of their value, during which time Chemours Company (NYSE:CC) split from the company and began its own descent. Year-to-date, the stock has fallen by 20.46%, while in the last 12 months, the loss has been 8.13%. That is not to say that prominent investors have lost hope in the firm, however. Even Peltz, during said investment conference, did not discount the possibility that Trian may boost its share ownership in DuPont. Furthermore, the number of bullish hedge fund positions in the firm among those Insider Monkey tracks increased to 36 by the end of March, up by five from three months earlier. The total value of their holdings, however, paints a more bearish picture, as holdings owned by those still long in DuPont by the end of the first quarter declined by 6.48% quarter-over-quarter to $2.18 billion. The stock declined by 3.34% in the first quarter, and by a further 10.52% in the second quarter.
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Furthermore, Insider Monkey tracks insider buying and selling of shares. This tells us whether insiders are also bullish on their firms’ shares. DuPont Director James Gallogly bought 3,000 shares and 14,250 shares of the firm on February 23 and May 18, respectively. Director Edward Breen bought 13,000 shares of the chemicals firm on February 23. On February 24, Director Lee Thomas acquired 1,245 shares, while on May 18, Director Lois Juliber acquired 1,000 shares. Meanwhile, Executive Vice President James Collins Jr. sold 600 shares each in two transactions on January 2 and February 2.
Considering all of this, let’s take a look at the fresh hedge fund activity concerning E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co.
