BOSTON (Reuters) – Activist investment firm Starboard Value has made new bets on agricultural chemical company Corteva <CTVA.N> and on ON Semiconductor <ON.O> and expects margins can grow at each company, the firm’s chief investment officer Jeff Smith said at a conference on Thursday.
Smith told the 13D Monitor Active-Passive Investment Summit that Corteva’s stock price could surge as much as 90% and that its margins could grow to 23% from 14.4% currently.
He saw opportunity for margin growth at ON as well and said the company could become an attractive acquisition target and that the right new chief executive could create a lot of value.
(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
