Activist hedge fund Barington Capital Group is urging fashion company Jones Group Inc to sell parts of its portfolio, the Wall Street Journal reported citing a person familiar with the matter. Barington Group, which owns about 2 percent of the company's stock, also suggested other options such as cutting costs and adding directors to the board, the journal reported.The paper reported that Jones confirmed its Chief Executive Wesley Card met with Barington at Barington's request, earlier this month.The New York-based company behind brands such as Nine West and Jones New York had reported a higher-than-expected profit for the holiday quarter in February, as sales of its shoes and jeans to U.S. department stores picked up.Jones had then said that as part of its efforts to improve margins, it would be careful about building up too much inventory in 2013.
The Jones Group Inc. (Jones) is a global designer, marketer and wholesaler of over 35 brands across five divisions: apparel, footwear, jeans wear, jewelry and handbags. Shares of JNY traded higher by 5.87% or $0.78/share to $14.07. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $8.85 and as high as $15.07. On average, 811768 shares of JNY exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 4740943.
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