E*Trade Financial Corp's (ETFC.O) largest shareholder urged the online brokerage to put itself up for sale and take other steps to boost shareholder value, causing its shares to surge 14 percent. In a letter to E*Trade Chief Executive Steven Freiberg, the hedge fund firm Citadel LLC, run by Kenneth Griffin, called for a special shareholder meeting to decide whether the company should hire a new investment bank to advise on strategic alternatives, including a possible sale. Citadel also asked New York-based E*Trade to remove two directors, Michael Parks and Donna Weaver, and install qualified independent directors to replace them. E*Trade's board "is consistently unable to create value for shareholders," Citadel said.
E*TRADE Financial Corporation (E*TRADE) is a financial services company, which provides online brokerage and related products and services to the individual retail investors, under the brand E*TRADE Financial. Shares of ETFC traded higher by 14.59% or $1.89/share to $14.84. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $12.24 and as high as $18.13. On average, 4578140 shares of ETFC exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 4688766.
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