Why Shares of Campus Crest Communities Inc. Popped

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Campus Crest Communities rose as much as 13% on Tuesday after activist investor Clinton Group announced on Monday that it is partnering with Campus Evolution Villages, a private owner-operator of student housing assets, "in its pursuit to maximize value for all shareholders of Campus Crest."

So what: Clinton Group's announcement included an open letter to Campus Crest's board, in which it laid out the broad lines of a reorganization, which would have Campus Crest acquire Campus Evolution Village's management company. Clinton Group maintains that such a transaction would bring onboard the management talent that is required to turn Campus Crest around, as well as create a pipeline for future growth. Clinton Group currently intends to nominate four candidates for board representation at Campus Crest.

Campus Crest wasted no time in responding, announcing this morning that it is exploring "a broad range of strategic, operational and financial alternatives to further enhance shareholder value" and that it had elevated its chief investment officer, Aaron Halfacre, to the position of president.

Now what: It's little wonder that Campus Crest registered on an activist investor's radar. As the following chart demonstrates, from its inception as a publicly traded company in October 2010, the company has hugely underperformed its peers, whether small-cap stocks (Russell 2000 Index) or REITs (Dow Jones REIT Index):

CCG data by YCharts

I agree with Wunderlich Securities analyst Craig Kucera, who wrote today:

However, with the shares now trading above $7.80, most of the road leading to the new price target has already been covered. Further gains will be harder (and will take longer)to achieve -- but they could conceivably overwhelm the height of this initial pop.

The article Why Shares of Campus Crest Communities Inc. Popped originally appeared on Fool.com.

Alex Dumortier, CFA has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.