Key facts
- Glass Lewis backed all of activist investor Doug Bergeron's director candidates.
- Bergeron and DGB Investments own 5.2% of Ethan Allen.
- Ethan Allen's stock has lost over 25% in the past year.
- CEO Farooq Kathwari, 82, will be replaced by June 30, 2027, but will remain CEO and on the board until then.
Proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis has recommended that investors vote for activist investor Doug Bergeron's slate of director candidates in his campaign to replace the board at Ethan Allen. The firm cited "muted accountability, operational backsliding and sputtering shareholder value" as reasons for its support.
Bergeron, along with DGB Investments, owns 5.2% of the nearly 100-year-old company and is seeking to overhaul its management. Glass Lewis's endorsement follows a similar recommendation last week from Egan-Jones Proxy Services. Institutional Investor Services, another major proxy firm, has yet to release its report.
Ethan Allen's stock has fallen more than 25% in the past year. The company announced it would name a successor to its 82-year-old CEO, Farooq Kathwari, by June 30, 2027, though he will remain CEO and on the board until then. Bergeron criticized this plan as "too little, too late."