MarketWatch – Hedge funds have mostly stayed away from family-controlled, publicly traded newspaper companies such as Dow Jones & Co. (DJ), but now several such funds have been building stakes in the New York publisher at the same time that short sellers have been pushing up the short interest in the stock to a high level.
The bullish funds give two main reasons for being in the stock: They expect an improvement in the company’s prospects under Chief Executive Officer Rich Zannino, who was named to the position in January, or they think the company might be put in play by the Bancroft family, which owns the majority of Dow Jones’ voting stock.
That speculation coincides with other newspaper companies’ being put on the block amid a buoyant merger-and-acquisitions market. Tribune Co. (TRB), publisher of the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, recently said it would review strategic options after pressure from shareholders. Earlier this year, Knight Ridder Inc. was sold to McClatchy Co. (MNI), following calls for a sale from shareholders.
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