Air Products Rises on WSJ Report of Activist Investor Stake

** Update: Air Products closed Monday at $312.60, up $27.10 on a day the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 398.51 to 41,954.24.

— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs

Shares of Air Products rose Monday after the Wall Street Journal reported an activist investor’s stake in the maker of industrial gases.

Investment group Mantle Ridge has been building its stake since March, the WSJ reported citing people with knowledge of the investment.

Mantle Ridge now owns more than $1 billion of Air Products shares, the WSJ said. The company’s market capitalization is about $68 billion.

Mantle Ridge wants to review Air Products’ strategy and use of capital, and succession planning, the Journal reported.

Chief Executive Seifi Ghasemi, 80, has promoted Air Products’ investment in hydrogen as part of a global clean-energy strategy. He contends hydrogen can replace fossil fuels in heavy industry and transportation.

Shares of the Upper Macungie Township-based company were up $21.53 or 7.5% to $307.03 at 11:09 a.m. Monday.

The shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol APD.

Activist investors buy stakes in companies they consider to be undervalued and then seek changes in strategy or management, in some cases including a sale of the company.

— Disclosure: I own shares in Air Products as part of a buy-and-hold strategy.