VF stock jumps after Engaged Capital reveals stake in the company

After picking a stake in VF Corporation, activist investment firm Engaged Capital is said to be pushing for cost cuts and board changes, according to a CNBC report.

Shares of VF Corp closed at 18.45 dollars, 14 percent higher on Tuesday. Engaged expects the share prices to move upward to 46 dollars within three years if the changes proposed by the firm are implemented.

The report quoted Engaged saying that the former VF Corp. CEO Steve Rendle, who abruptly left the company late last year, made a series of strategic errors during his tenure. Those, according to Engaged, include “reduced autonomy among individual brands, underinvestment in Vans and the Supreme brand acquisition, which hurt the balance sheet.”

VF Corp announces cost cuts

Engaged wants VF to undertake over 300 million dollars in cost cuts through “elimination of duplicative costs and corporate excess.”

Speaking at the 13D Monitor Active Passive Investment Summit, Engaged Capital’s Chris Hetrick reportedly said that the company’s business can likely be turned around and the North Face brand is very healthy globally and that the Vans brand has lost “heat” but can be repaired.

“The company should evaluate boosting its non-core asset divestment program as well as consider taking offers for all the company’s brands except Vans and The North Face,” he added.