Starbucks Corp. shares rose Friday after billionaire investor Nelson Peltz disclosed that his investment fund bought a stake in the specialty coffee retailer.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday, Peltz's Trian Fund reported it purchased 842,070 shares as of March 31.
According to a May 5 regulatory filing, Starbucks has about 728 million shares outstanding, Trian's stake represents about one tenth of 1 percent of the company's shares.
Peltz, who also owns a stake in Wendy's International Inc., Cheesecake Factory Inc. and Kraft Foods Inc., is known for buying shares in companies and then agitating for big changes. Peltz pushed Wendy's, for example, to spin off its Tim Hortons coffee-and-doughnut chain and cut corporate expenses before one of his companies said it would acquire the company in an all-stock deal worth about $2.34 billion.
Lehman Brothers analyst Jeffrey Bernstein said in a note to investors that although Peltz has not taken an activist role so far at Starbucks, his "presence will garner investor interest and management's ear."
Investors have lately been less enamored of Starbucks, which has struggled to keep U.S. sales growing as the economy falters. In its fiscal second quarter, profit fell 28 percent due to fewer trips by U.S. consumers, particularly in areas hard-hit by the downturn in the housing market.
Shares rose 98 cents, or 6.1 percent, to $17.05.
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