J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) just got rid of activist investor Bill Ackman, but now another major hedge fund manager has taken an interest in the company. Kyle Bass, who manages Hayman Capital Management, has disclosed that the fund holds a 5.2 percent stake in the aging retailer. That makes bass one of the company’s biggest shareholders.
Filing shows J.C. Penney stake
The disclosure came via a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It shows that Hayman Capital and its related funds now hold more than 11.4 million shares of J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP). Street Insider notes that Hayman didn’t own any shares of the retailer at the end of the June quarter, which means all of them were purchased within the last two months.
The news comes after Ackman made a deal to sell off his entire stake in the retail chain. Last week it was revealed via another regulatory filing that Perry Capital bought 3 million of Ackman’s shares. Ackman’s stake had been about 18 percent of the company
J.C. Penney still struggling
Shares of J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) rose 1 percent in early Tuesday morning trading. The company has struggled to regain its prominence over the last few years, most recently under former CEO Ron Johnson, who was brought in by Ackman. Previous CEO Myron Ullman was brought back to the retail chain to help stabilize it, and since then the changes have been happening rapidly.
In addition to bringing back the couponing and discounting strategy previously practiced by the department store chain, the company also announced that it was adopting a poison pill to prevent shareholders from taking over the company. Ackman’s stake had been covered by outstanding agreements, so it did not trigger that poison pill. However, it will have an effect on any further shares acquired by large hedge funds like Hayman or Perry.
