CFO Shake-up For Actuant

(RTTNews) - Actuant Corp. (ATU) said Friday that Rick Dillon will join the industrial products maker on December 5, 2016, and become executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective December 22. Dillon is currently EVP and CFO of Century Aluminum Co. (CENX).

Dillon succeeds Andrew Lampereur, Actuant's current EVP and CFO, who will remain in his position through the company's first-quarter earnings announcement on December 21. Thereafter, Lampereur will provide ongoing consulting support, Actuant said.

Robert Peterson, Actuant's Chairman of the Board said, "Actuant is fortunate to have had a CFO of Andy's ability from its formation in the 2000 spin-off. Andy's many accomplishments, most notably building robust financial processes focused on cash flow, are a major reason behind the Company's success."

Dillon has been EVP and CFO of Century Aluminum since June 2014. During his tenure at Joy Global Inc. (JOY) from 2009 to 2014, Dillon served as Vice President-Finance Global Surface Mining Group and as Vice President-Controller and Chief Accounting Officer.

Prior to joining Joy Global, he served as Vice President-Business Planning and Analysis and Vice President-Controller and Chief Accounting Officer at Newell Brands. He also served as Vice President-Controller and Chief Accounting Officer at Briggs & Stratton Corp.

Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-based Actuant also said Friday that former CEO and Chairman Robert Arzbaecher and Thomas Fischer, who led the audit committee, will not stand for re-election as directors.

They will retire from the company's board when their current term ends at the next annual shareholders' meeting on January 17, 2017.

In addition, Actuant expects to record certain separation and transition charges as well as non-cash stock compensation expense of about $8 million pre-tax in its first fiscal quarter ended November 30, 2016, which was not included in the company's previously announced guidance.

Meanwhile, several analysts at various stock market brokerages have recently changed their ratings and price targets on Actuant shares.

On Monday, analysts at Robert W Baird upgraded Actuant to "outperform" and now have a price target of $30 on the stock. In June, RBC Capital analysts reiterated their "outperform" rating on Actuant.

But analysts at Barclays cut Actuant to "underweight" in late October, with a price target of $19 on the stock. Earlier in October, Wells Fargo analysts downgraded the company to "market perform."