J. Carlo Cannell’s Cannell Capital is among a group of concerned Procera Networks Inc (NASDAQ:PKT) shareholders which has nominated four directors for the board of that company, according to a filing with the SEC yesterday. The group, which also includes Tristan Partners, owns approximately 1.5% of Procera’s shares. In the case of Cannell Capital, it owned 311,900 shares as of the end of 2014, a position which it opened during the last quarter.
The San Francisco-based Cannell Capital was founded by Cannell in 1992 with just $600,000, and had a portfolio valued at $302 million at the end of 2014. Cannell prefers to keep his fund small, and his investments focused on small-cap, undervalued companies. He famously returned a 15% chunk of capital to his investors in 2004 when he felt his fund was on the verge of becoming too big and losing its focus. Cannell has often sought out unknown commodities, specifically seeking out companies with limited analyst coverage.
The nominees put forth by the Concerned Procera Stockholders are Paul W. Shaneck, Dilip Singh, Mark D. Stolper and Howard E. Mark. With over 100 years of combined experience in the telecommunications, technology, and computer industries fields, the nominees would bring a wealth of experience to Procera Networks Inc (NASDAQ:PKT)’s board.
Procera Networks Inc (NASDAQ:PKT) has been an investment disappointment since its IPO at the beginning of 2013, shedding 50% of its value since, and dipping under $6 at one point in October, 2014. Since then it has gained 50%, and is up 26.01% year-to-date. The networking equipment and services provider recently formed a partnership with Dell through its Procera Alliances Program. Through the partnership, Procera’s PacketLogic internet intelligence solution with be available on some Intel server platforms as a preconfigured and fully validated solution.
Other Procera Networks Inc (NASDAQ:PKT) shareholders include Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital, with 731,208 shares, and Peter A. Wright’s P.A.W Capital Partners, with an even 300,000 shares.
Cannell Capital also recently filed its latest 13F with the SEC, and we’ll take a look at its top three positions from that filing now, beginning with GTT Communications Inc (NYSE:GTT). This has been Cannell’s top pick dating back to the second half of 2013, and has gained 184.73% since the fourth quarter of 2013. Cannell trimmed the position slightly in the fourth quarter, to 2.55 million shares, down 7% from the end of the third quarter.
GTT Communications Inc (NYSE:GTT), a cloud services company based in Virginia, was down in 2015 until it announced the purchase of MegaPath’s Managed Services business on February 20, for $152.3 million in cash and stock. Shares are up 22.29% in the week since that move, as it accelerates GTT’s ambition to achieve $400 million in revenue. The portfolio of managed services generated $124 million in revenue for MegaPath last year.
