Carl Icahn speaks at Delivering Alpha on September 13, 2016 in New York.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Prominent short seller Hindenburg Research is chasing prominent activist investor Carl Icahn.
Nathan Anderson-led firms take short positions Icahn Enterprisesclaiming “inflated” asset valuations, for what it said were, among other things, an unusually high premium to the net asset value of shares in listed holding companies.
“Overall, we believe Wall Street legend Icahn made the classic mistake of overleveraging in the face of sustained losses: This combination rarely Good result.”
The stock fell more than 12% in Tuesday’s trading.
Icahn is the most famous corporate raider in history, rising to fame after his hostile takeover of TWA Airlines and divestiture of its assets in the 1980s. More recently, the billionaire investor has been involved in aggressive investments in McDonald’s and biotech company Illumina.
Based in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, Icahn Enterprises is a holding company with interests in a variety of businesses including energy, automotive, food packaging, metals and real estate.
The group pays a 15.9% dividend, according to FactSet. Hindenburg said it doesn’t think the company’s cash flow and investment performance “support” a high dividend yield.
CNBC has reached out to Icahn for comment.
Shares of Icahn Enterprises are down about 13% this year.
