Activist investment firm Relational Investors LLC on Thursday repeated its call for U.S. industrial conglomerate maker Timken Co to consider breaking itself into two companies focused on steel and bearings. "There is currently a deep under-valuation of Timken's shares due to the Company's ill-conceived conglomerate structure, particularly as compared to its peers," Relational said in a joint statement with the California State Teachers' Retirement System.Together, Relational and CalSTRS own 7.3 percent of Timken.Relational, run by Ralph Whitworth, has been calling on Timken to consider a split since November, a call that Timken management has resisted.Timken shares were down 14 cents at $54.49 in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Timken Company (Timken) develops, manufactures, markets and sells products for friction management and mechanical power transmission, alloy steels and steel components. Shares of TKR fell by 0.02% or $-0.0098/share to $54.62. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $32.59 and as high as $57.94. On average, 1050020 shares of TKR exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 356709.
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