Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates Took Active Ownership in Cosi

Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates amended its previous passive stake ownership in Cosi, Inc. (COSI) to active on November 9th, based on the firm’s recent SEC 13D filing. As mentioned, Royce & Associates was dissatisfied with the Cosi’s board and management performance over the years. Royce & Associates now takes approximately 4.98 million shares or 9.6% activist stake in COSI, and the shares are unchanged since the first quarter. The stock is now trading at $0.78, representing a year to date loss of 38%.

Chuck Royce

Three hedge funds in our tracking list reported their positions in COSI in the second quarter. Beside Royce & Associates’ 4.98 million shares position, Alexander Mitchell’s Scopus Asset Management had 1.81 million shares, and Jim Simos’ Renaissance Technologies took about 32 thousand shares in the stock.

Royce & Associates is an asset management arm of Legg Mason Inc. Based on its LinkedIn profile, the firm provides services and pooled investment vehicles, pension and profit sharing plans. The firm mainly invests in value stocks in Services, Financial, Technology, Consumer Goods, Basic Materials, and some other sectors. The firm had a portfolio value of more than $35 billion, mainly investing in Services, Financial, Technology, and Industrial Goods sector.

Cosi, Inc. owns, operates and franchises restaurants in the United States. The company offers hot and cold sandwiches, freshly-tossed salads, Cosi bagels, flatbread pizzas, S’mores and other desserts, and a range of coffees along with other soft drink beverages, teas and alcoholic beverages, mostly beer and wine. The company operates more than 130 restaurants in business districts and residential communities in both urban and suburban locations. The company was founded in 1994 and is based in Deerfield, Illinois.