Engine Capital Group Falls Below 5% Of American Outdoor Brands, But Keeps A Board Seat
A Schedule 13D amendment says the activist group's stake is about 4.3%, while Bradley Favreau remains an AOUT director.
Engine Capital's group no longer owns 5% or more of American Outdoor Brands, according to Amendment No. 1 to its Schedule 13D, filed Wednesday. The filing puts the date of the drop at October 5, 2026, and the group's combined stake at about 4.3%.
What the amendment says
A Schedule 13D is the ownership filing an activist investor files once it passes 5% of a company. Item 5(e) of this amendment says that as of October 5, 2026, the reporting persons "ceased to beneficially own 5% or more of the Shares."
Engine Capital, L.P. directly holds 503,281 shares, about 4.0% of the class, with sole voting and sole dispositive power and none shared. Engine Jet Capital, L.P., the group's smaller fund, holds 42,043 shares, or 0.3%.
Engine Capital Management, LP, its general partner, Engine Investments, LLC, and Arnaud Ajdler each may be deemed to beneficially own 545,324 shares, about 4.3%. That figure is Engine Capital's and Engine Jet's holdings added together. The filing says the percentages rest on 12,621,225 shares outstanding as of August 31, 2026, taken from the issuer's 10-Q filed September 3, 2026.
On cost, Engine Capital's shares carry an aggregate purchase price of about $6,261,880, including brokerage commissions. Engine Jet's carry about $527,910.
The director seat stays
Bradley T. Favreau, also a reporting person, owns 62,182 shares, or 0.5%. Of those, 12,620 were bought in open-market purchases with personal funds for $110,261. The other 54,266 are restricted stock units (RSUs) awarded for his service as an AOUT director; 49,562 have vested or will vest within 60 days.
Item 6 adds a September 28, 2026 award of 6,272 RSUs to him, vesting one-twelfth on the last day of each month after the grant. Of those, 1,568 have vested or will vest within 60 days.
The filing says his other director awards have all vested.
What to watch
Exhibit 1 lists the group's transactions in AOUT shares over the past sixty days. It is the place to see how the holdings came down.
AOUT closed at $16.07 on Wednesday, down 0.12% from the prior session, for a market value of $203 million (market data).
The reporting obligation has ended, but Exhibit 1 will show how the group got below the line.
