Campus Crest Communities Inc (CCG): Clinton Group Goes Activist; Check Out the Fund’s Other Top Picks

In Stillwater Mining Company (NYSE:SWC), Clinton upped its stake by 90% to almost 365,000 shares valued at $5.38 million. Stillwater Mining is another successful proxy fight won by Clinton Group. At the end of 2012, Clinton issued a letter to the company’s board of directors demanding significant changes in operations and management. Additionally, the fund appointed eight directors to be elected to Stillwater Mining Company (NYSE:SWC)’s board of directors. After several months of an aggresive proxy fight, shareholders elected four of Clinton’s nominees, one of whom was appointed as chairman of the board. Since the investor won the proxy fight, the stock of the producer of palladium and platinum appreciated by around 17%. One of the largest shareholders of Stillwater Mining Company (NYSE:SWC) is Kerr Neilson‘s Platinum Asset Management, which held 13.84 million shares at the end of December.

Next in line is Clinton’s recent activist target, Campus Crest Communities Inc (NYSE:CCG). In the letter that was disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Clinton and its new partner Campus Evolution Villages expressed their disappointment with the company’s current situation and stated that they have been uncovering many big issues related to capital allocation, spending and relationships within the board of directors of the company. Clinton and Campus Evolution also said that they have proposed to preserve three existing board members and replace the others, but Campus Crest Communities Inc (NYSE:CCG) rejected the offer. In this way, we might expect a proxy fight to emerge soon, although Clinton and Campus Evolution stated that they will do their best to avoid a long and expensive proxy contest. J. Alan Reid, Jr.’s Forward Management is another fund betting on the builder and manager of student housing properties; Forward held 4.08 million shares at the end of 2014.

Clinton’s fifth-largest position in terms of value is represented by CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS), in which the fund owns 32,700 shares valued at $3.15 million. The fund initiated a stake in the drug retailer during the fourth quarter, and has seen the stock gain some 8% since the beginning of 2015. CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS) was one of the more popular healthcare stocks during the last quarter of 2014, as 53 funds among those that we track disclosed positions, up from 44 funds a quarter earlier. Robert Rodriguez and Steven Romick’s First Pacific Advisors is one of the top shareholders of CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS), holding 6.89 million shares as of the end of 2014.

Disclosure: None