Destination Maternity Shares Soar On Board Shakeup, All Female Investor Nominees Elected

Destination Maternity Corp DEST was trading up 14.5 percent in Thursday's pre-market session after the board announced late Wednesday the election of four activist-backed director nominees.

Three women and one man comprise the selected group championed by NGM Capital’s Nathan Miller and Kenosis Capital’s Peter O’Malley. Destination Maternity had advocated for another slate of three men and interim CEO Melissa Payner-Gregor.

The new directors are Holly Alden, Marla Ryan, Anne-Charlotte Windal and Christopher Morgan.

The Real Achievement

Institutional Shareholder Services had advised investors to vote down the activists’ selection on concerns that none of the nominees had previous board experience — a qualification that piqued the Street’s feminists.

"If the company's argument is this chauvinistic trope that women can't join the board because they've never been on as a director before, then this embarrassing situation in Corporate America will never be remedied," O'Malley told CNBC.

Few women meet the suggested requirement. Last quarter, women made up just 16.9 percent of Russell 3000 company boards. Just three have held seats at the 36-year-old Destination Maternity.

Shares of Destination Maternity closed Wednesday at $2.90.

Unlocking Value

Business moguls have recently extolled women for their contributions to the sector and testified to their successful instincts.

“Not some of my returns, but all of my returns, have come from companies either owned or run by women,” Kevin O’Leary has said about his "Shark Tank" investments.

Warren Buffett’s outlook lends positive outlook for Destination Maternity’s turnaround.

“What makes me even more enthusiastic about the future, is that 90 percent of that time, we were only using half of our talent,” Buffett said at the 2016 United State of Women summit. “Think about what would happen if we used all the talent for 100 percent of the time. It’s like having one hand behind your back.”

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