Six months ago, in a move to try and recoup some of their investment, the South Korean owns of Acushnet, parent company of Titleist, took the company public.
It was being pushed hard by the underwriting teams, telling everyone how great the golf business is and that this is the stock to own.
Of course the underwriters got the gig by claiming they could price the stock in $21-$24 range and they lied, of course. It ended up being priced at $17. Trades under the symbol GOLF.
There are four firms and 24 individuals who control 55 million of the 75 million outstanding shares.
This stock has been up and down, going as low at $16.84 and as high as $22.31 where it didn’t stay long enough for a cup of coffee last December.
So here we are in the biggest bull market of all time with the Dow messing around at the 21,000 mark and Acushnet settling in around 18 bucks where it closed on Tuesday.
Wednesday, April 26 is a big day for this stock. That is the expiration of the 180-day “lockup period” where those four firms and 24 individuals who own “restricted stock” can now dump it on the open market and get their hands on some cold, hard cash. They can’t dump their entire holdings but they can begin to gradually get rid of their overblown positions.
Gotta figure those folks in South Korea are real nervous with all the saber-rattling to the north.
Some Wall Street watchers are figuring this is a great “short” opportunity. Don Dion is one of them and gives the details.
At best, it’s going to continue to be a struggle for this company. With Apple pushing toward the $150 mark, Acushnet is just there treading water and the water is about to get a lot rougher.
