Profit from Rackspace Acquisition

DSW (NYSE: DSW) recently reported lackluster second-quarter numbers, and Wall Street sent the company’s shares down 11.5%. DSW currently trades at a 50% discount to its 52-week high and is the only stock in our RRS Legacy Portfolio with a negative return.

Second-quarter revenue increased 5.1% to $659 million while comparable sales fell 1.2%. Earnings per share for the quarter were 30 cents after factoring in 3 cents per share for acquisition costs and 2 cents per share for restructuring expenses. Adjusted EPS came in at 35 cents.

For the first six months of 2016, revenue increased 4.5% to $1.3 billion, including a contribution of $34.7 million from the recently acquired Ebuys. Comparable sales for the first half of the year fell 1.4%, compared to an increase of 3.5% last year. DSW reported net income of $55 million, or 67 cents per diluted share, including pre-tax charges of $8.4 million, or 6 cents per share. Adjusted net income, which excludes costs related to the Ebuys acquisition and restructuring costs, stood at $61.9 million, or 75 cents per diluted share.

Management says they can cut $25 million in costs annually, but the efficiencies will not be realized until 2017.

DSW reiterates its full-year outlook for adjusted EPS of $1.32 to $1.42. This guidance excludes the impact of purchase-price accounting, transaction costs, the fair market value in accounting related to the acquisition of Ebuys, and current and future charges related to its expense management review.

Rackspace Hosting (NYSE: RAX) is going private, and when it does it will result in a better-than-17% return on this position from our original recommendation.  Apollo Global Management is buying Rackspace for $4.3 billion.  Under the deal, Rackspace stockholders will receive $32 per share in cash, representing a premium of 38% to Rackspace’s stock price on Aug. 3, before the news was announced.

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2016.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE: WRB) announced the formation of Berkley Transactional as a division of Berkley Professional Liability Underwriters. The new division will underwrite a full suite of insurance products on behalf of W. R. Berkley Insurance Group. Management believes this new division will allow the company to participate in a fast-growing market.

Weis Markets (NYSE: WMK) announced it plans to complete the conversion of 38 Food Lion supermarkets it bought in July into Weis Market stores by the end of October. Once the conversion is complete, its Maryland store count will double, and Weis Markets will have established a presence in Virginia and Delaware.  The acquisition was the company’s second major deal in 2016, increasing the total store count more than 25% to 204.

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