Adage Boosts Rexnord Corp (RXN) Stake Amid Earnings and Sales Growth and Analysts Optimism

Adage Capital Partners, a fund managed by Phil Gross and Robert Atchinson, has increased its stake in Rexnord Corp (NYSE:RXN), as a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed. Adage reported ownership of 5.37 million shares, versus 2.52 million shares held earlier. In this way, Adage owns a passive stake that amasses 5.28% of Rexnord’s common stock.

Rexnord Corp (NYSE:RXN) is a $2.80 billion multi-platform company that is engaged in process & motion control and water management businesses. Adage initiated a position in the fourth quarter of 2013 and held initially 116,400 shares. During the first quarter of 2013, the fund boosted its position by more than 1,300%, and over the following months, the stake has been further increased. Rexnord’s stock appreciated by around 2% in the meantime and analysts are still bullish on the stock, which has a consensus rating ‘Buy’ and an average price target of around $33. Moreover, recently TheStreet has upgraded Rexnord Corp (NYSE:RXN) to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’.

A couple of weeks ago, Rexnord Corp (NYSE:RXN) launched a public offering of around 14.73 million shares held by certain shareholders affiliated with Apollo Global Management. Moreover, the company has recently reported its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2015, posting a 6% increase in net sales over year to $531 million and a 38% jump in EPS to $0.40.

Also bullish on Rexnord Corp (NYSE:RXN) are Bain Capital’s Brookside Capital, which upped its stake by 76% during the third quarter to 1.60 million shares, and David Shaw’s D E Shaw raised its position by 130% to 554.500 shares.

Adage Capital is a fund with a diversified equity portfolio worth over $40 billion. Around a month ago, the fund initiated a stake in Calithera Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:CALA), of which it owns 2.76 million shares, equal to 15.5% of the company’s common stock. The stake has been initiated after the company went public at the beginning of October and since then it appreciated by more than 10%.

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