Carl Icahn increased his stake in
Temple-Inland, Inc. (NYSE:TIN) according to a
Schedule 13D/A
filing with the SEC today. The famous investor picked up over 160,000
shares on the open market an exercised three call options for over 4.2
million additional shares bringing his current stake to 8.65 percent.
Icahn
and other activists have been involved with the Temple-Inland for
almost a year now after he proposed a breakup of the company to unlock
value. Last month, the company finally bowed to Icahn's demands by
selling its timberland properties for $2.38 billion and agreeing to
spin-off two other business segments. The proceeds were/will be used to
pay down debts and fund a share buyback program.
Temple-Inland
Inc. made further progress toward completing its previously announced
transformation plan when its subsidiaries Forestar Real Estate Group
LLC and Guaranty Financial Group Inc. each filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission a Registration Statement on
Form 10 on August 10th.
Meanwhile,
Temple-Inland has also been working to cut down its costs by laying off
50 employees and undergoing other measures to control costs. According
to analysts polled by Zach's, "[We] like that the company is offsetting
high operations costs through higher-than-expected cost reductions from
various initiatives, other ongoing cost reduction programs, and project
TIP.
Furthermore, a share buyback program, internal improvements
and underlying asset values could provide upside to the stock going
forward. In addition, analysts believe the company is better positioned
compared to other paper and forest product companies as its corrugated
strategy is estimated to offer protection during periods of price
declines."
In the end, Temple-Inland is clearly on track yet its
shares have been dropping off of their highs. This has created a buying
opportunity that Carl Icahn has used to increase his bet on a
successful restructuring. Combined, these factors make TIN a stock
worth watching!
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