WSJ : Jana Partners Has Nearly 10% Stake in Freshpet, Sources Say

Jana Partners Has Nearly 10% Stake in Freshpet, Sources Say
Activist plans to push pet-food company to make changes to boost stock price, explore sale

An activist investor has a nearly 10% stake in Freshpet Inc. FRPT +3.75% and plans to push the pet-food company to make changes to boost its stock price and explore a sale, according to people familiar with the matter.

Jana Partners LLC believes Freshpet FRPT 3.75% could be an attractive target for larger competitors in the sector that have shown an appetite for deals in recent years, the people said. It also wants the company to consider other changes such as operational and capital-allocation improvements.

The activist hedge fund has recruited former Kraft Foods Chief Financial Officer Timothy McLevish, as well as Diane Dietz, who was chief executive of skincare-product maker Rodan & Fields, and ex-Jarden Corp. Chief Executive James Lillie for help with the campaign, the people said.

Two former professional athletes—basketball star Dwayne Wade and baseball star CC Sabathia —are serving as special advisers, they said.

Freshpet specializes in refrigerated high-end pet food made with blends of meat, vegetables and fruits. Secaucus, N.J.-based Freshpet has struggled lately; when announcing its second-quarter earnings in August, the company revised its guidance as a result of inflation pressure and quality-control issues. Its shares were down roughly 80% from their high in April 2021 and about 60% so far this year through Wednesday.

At its peak, Freshpet had a market value of around $8 billion; it is now just under $2 billion.

Earlier this month, the company shuffled several executive roles in a bid to improve its operations and said its CFO resigned. CEO Billy Cyr said at the time that the company’s rapid growth over the past few years had created “a unique set of opportunities and challenges.”

In recent years, food makers including Nestlé SA and General Mills Inc. have pointed to pet-food sales as a bright spot as consumers spend more on fancier offerings. Nestlé owns the Purina brand, among others, while General Mills’ portfolio includes Blue Buffalo, a premium brand it bought for around $8 billion in 2018.

There have been a string of investments in the sector more recently, including Mars Inc.’s acquisition of a small fresh-pet-food maker earlier this year. In August, Colgate-Palmolive Co. said it was buying three dry-pet-food manufacturing plants for $700 million to support the growth of its Hill’s Pet Nutrition business.

New York-based Jana was founded in 2001 by Barry Rosenstein. It has agitated at other consumer companies including Whole Foods Market Inc., sold to Amazon.com Inc. in 2017, and Pinnacle Foods, sold to Conagra Brands Inc. in 2018. In 2014, it pushed for PetSmart to be sold. The pet-supply retailer was sold the following year to a consortium of private-equity firms.

WSJ : Humana, Other Potential Buyers Circle Cano Health

Humana, Other Potential Buyers Circle Cano Health
Deal For primary-care provider could be struck in next several weeks

Humana Inc. HUM +1.31% and other possible buyers are circling Cano Health Inc., CANO +33.91% according to people familiar with the situation, as healthcare heavyweights scramble to snap up primary-care providers.

The talks are serious and a deal to purchase Cano could be struck in the next several weeks, assuming the negotiations don’t fall apart, some of the people said. Cano had a market value of about $3 billion Thursday afternoon.

Miami-based Cano operates primary-care centers in California, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Illinois, New York, New Jersey and Puerto Rico, according to documentation from the company. It mainly serves Medicare Advantage members, a private-sector alternative to Medicare for seniors.

It couldn’t be learned who else is in the mix, but Cano could be Humana’s to lose as the health insurer has a right of first refusal on any sale, part of an agreement that was originally struck in 2019.

(ZH) Next Tropical Threat Could Become Major Hurricane With Crosshairs On US Gul

Next Tropical Threat Could Become Major Hurricane With Crosshairs On US Gulf Refineries

About a month into the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, we noted the threat of tropical disturbances could wreak havoc on oil/gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico and send gasoline prices higher. Well, July and August passed with barely any named storms. Enter the second half of September, a week past the peak of hurricane season, the tropics seem to have woken up, and a new disturbance could spell trouble for the Gulf area.
As of Thursday morning, Hurricane Fiona is the strongest hurricane of the Atlantic season and is barreling towards Canadian Maritimes as a Category 4 storm, but new forecast models show a disturbance with high chances of becoming the next tropical storm -- named Hermine -- in the next 48 hours (located in the southeastern Caribbean Sea) could quickly intensify and become a major hurricane next week, with landfall impacts possibly somewhere along the eastern Gulf coast or the Florida Straits.
"The fact that nearly every computer model out there develops this into a westward-moving hurricane is absolutely concerning," CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said.
"Well, there's a lot of uncertainty right now," Maria Torres, hurricane center spokesperson, told CNN on Wednesday.
"But yes, it's something that we are keeping an eye on and that we are closely monitoring as we get into the weekend and early next week," Torres said.
Torres said conditions in the Gulf are favorable for the system to "strengthen, and it will do that very rapidly."
AccuWeather meteorologists published a model of the storm's potential path through next Thursday.
"At this early stage, US interests from Miami to New Orleans should closely watch the evolution of this system," AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok.
Even though there's a lot of uncertainty on the actual path of the disturbance over the next week, let's say the meteorologists are right, and it does intensify into a hurricane next week and sets sights on the Gulf Coast of the US. Then this could be very problematic for major US oil/gas assets in the region and comes at a time the Biden administration has drained the SPR to decade-low levels to crush gasoline and diesel prices ahead of the midterm elections.
As outlined in the map below, here are major oil refineries in the region (read this: Activity In Tropics Emerges As Next Big Hurricane Could Send Gas Prices To "Apocalyptic" Levels).
This is something to keep an eye on through the weekend.

The Verge : Instagram’s finally working on protecting users from unsolicited nud

Instagram’s finally working on protecting users from unsolicited nude photos

Instagram is working on a way to protect users from receiving unsolicited nude photos in their DMs. Instagram’s parent company, Meta, confirmed to The Verge that the feature was in development after an app researcher published an early image of the tool.
Meta says the optional user controls, which are still in the early stages of development, will help people shield themselves from nude photos as well as other unwanted messages.
The tech giant likened these controls to its “Hidden Words” feature, which allows users to automatically filter direct message requests containing offensive content.


According to Meta, the technology will not allow Meta to view the actual messages nor share them with third parties. “We’re working closely with experts to ensure these new features preserve people’s privacy, while giving them control over the messages they receive,” Meta spokesperson Liz Fernandez said.
Meta says it’ll share more details about the new feature in the next few weeks as they get closer to testing.
A report published earlier this year by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a British nonprofit organization, found that Instagram’s tools failed to act upon 90 percent of image-based abusive direct messages sent to high-profile women. Many were sent sexual images by men, and not even the “hidden words” feature could completely filter out swear words like “b*tch.”

Meanwhile, last year, The Pew Research Center published a report that found 33 percent of women under 35 had been sexually harassed online.
Work on the new Instagram feature comes as cyberflashing, which involves sending unsolicited sexual messages to strangers — often women — online, could soon become a criminal offense in the UK if Parliament passes the Online Safety Bill.
Cyberflashing is not, however, a crime in much of the US, though Texas made cyberflashing a misdemeanor in 2019. That’s despite the fact some experts believe it can be just as psychologically damaging as sexual abuse that takes place in person.
“Some will come forward and say [cyber flashing] is harmless,” Durham Law School’s professor Clare McGlynn, an expert in image-based sexual abuse, told HuffPost. “Everyone struggles with the fact it isn’t face to face, but you can’t rank sexual offences like that. The harm of sexual offences is so significant and different forms of offending can have the same impact on different people.”

>>> US Research Calls I

Research Calls I

  • Downgrades:
    • Alcoa (AA) downgraded to Peer Perform from Outperform at Wolfe Research
    • Block (SQ) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Mizuho; tgt lowered to $57
    • Novavax (NVAX) downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan; tgt lowered to $27
  • Others:
    • 23andMe (ME) initiated with an Outperform at Cowen; tgt $6
    • Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) assumed with a Buy at Jones Trading
    • Asana (ASAN) initiated with a Market Perform at MoffettNathanson; tgt $26
    • CS Disco (LAW) initiated with an Outperform at MoffettNathanson; tgt $20
    • DocuSign (DOCU) initiated with an Underperform at MoffettNathanson; tgt $58
    • Globe Life (GL) initiated with a Strong Buy at Raymond James; tgt $138
    • Gracell Biotechnologies (GRCL) initiated with a Buy at Citigroup; tgt $12
    • Intuit (INTU) initiated with an Outperform at MoffettNathanson; tgt $500
    • LegalZoom.com (LZ) initiated with an Underperform at MoffettNathanson; tgt $11
    • Littelfuse (LFUS) initiated with a Hold at The Benchmark Company
    • Marqeta (MQ) initiated with a Neutral at Wedbush; tgt $8
    • MetLife (MET) initiated with a Mkt Perform at Raymond James
    • Monday.com (MNDY) initiated with an Outperform at MoffettNathanson; tgt $170
    • nCino (NCNO) initiated with a Market Perform at MoffettNathanson; tgt $40
    • NETSTREIT (NTST) initiated with an Outperform at Robert W. Baird; tgt $23
    • NIKE (NKE) initiated with an Outperform at RBC Capital Mkts; tgt $125
    • Principal Fincl (PFG) initiated with a Mkt Perform at Raymond James
    • Prudential (PRU) initiated with a Strong Buy at Raymond James; tgt $115
    • Red Rock Resorts (RRR) initiated with a Mkt Outperform at JMP Securities; tgt $50
    • Revance Therapeutics (RVNC) initiated with a Buy at Goldman; tgt $33
    • Sangoma Technologies (SANG) initiated with an Outperform at William Blair
    • Smartsheet (SMAR) initiated with an Outperform at MoffettNathanson; tgt $50
    • Stem (STEM) initiated with an Outperform at Cowen; tgt $22
    • Unum Group (UNM) initiated with a Mkt Perform at Raymond James
    • Voya Financial (VOYA) initiated with a Strong Buy at Raymond James; tgt $84
    • Westrock Coffee Company (WEST) initiated with an Overweight at Stephens; tgt $13

>>> US Gapping down

Gapping down
In reaction to earnings/guidance:

  • SPWH -3.1%, FDS -2.4%, DRI -2.3%, KBH -2.2%, SCS -1.3%, LEN -1.2%

Other news:

  • DBVT -11.3% (receives partial clinical hold notice for VITESSE Phase 3 Trial)
  • CIM -5% (lowers dividend)
  • CIFR -5% (files $500 mln mixed securities offering; common stock offering by selling shareholders; entered into $250 mln At The Market Offering Agreement)
  • SPIR -2.6% (awarded NOAA contract)
  • NVS -1.7% (unveils new focused strategy, underpinned by eight potential multi-billion dollar peak sales brands & deep pipeline) .

Analyst comments:

  • NVAX -6.2% (downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan)
  • SQ -2.1% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Mizuho)

>>> US Gapping up

Gapping up
In reaction to earnings/guidance:

  • DB +5.6%, CRM +2.3%, FUL +2.2%, TCOM +0.7%

Other news:

  • PGEN +3.9% (names new COO)
  • STNG +2.7% (reports it purchased its common shares in the open market and exercised a purchase option for an LR2 product tanker that is currently leased)
  • MRNS +1.6% (exercises first contract option by the BARDA)
  • CTIC +1.5% (Presentation of New Anemia Benefit Data from Pacritinib Program at the Society of Hematologic Oncology (SOHO) Tenth Annual Meeting)
  • BIIB +1.1% (Phase 3 results show benefits)
  • TLRY +1% (received approval from the Italian Ministry of Health to import and distribute Tilray's medical cannabis oral solution THC25 across the country)

Analyst comments:

  • GRCL +8.7% (initiated with a Buy at Citigroup; tgt $12)
  • ME +3.4% (initiated with an Outperform at Cowen; tgt $6)
  • NKE +0.5% (initiated with an Outperform at RBC Capital Mkts)