Since most hedge funds get paid based on their returns for the year, managers who want to get the most out of a stock investment often turn to shareholder activism as a way to increase shareholder value and ultimately boost their returns.

Here at Stockpickr.com, we track many of the latest activist situations for those interested in piggybacking these activist funds. We highlight a few of the latest activist situations here.

There are two activist investors in Enzon (ENZN), which has fallen from a high of $10 per share to less than $5. Carl Icahn and DellaCamera are both pushing for Enzon to sell parts of itself. DellaCamera has said that it has spoken with investment bank Moelis to "explore alternatives for Enzon."

Recently, Enzon's Oncaspar-IV cancer drug, which treats actue lymphoblastic leukemia, has received orphan drug status in the EU. According to Enzon, this will "block rival versions of the drug from the market for 10 years if regulators approve Oncaspar-IV for sale." While this is not a game-changer, there have been rumors that the company might sell the drug off to a larger European-based drug marker.

In an Oct. 6 letter to management, DellaCamera said: "At the Company's recent stock price of $6.42 per share, Enzon's equity market capitalization is approximately $290 million. As you may recall, we have previously calculated Enzon's remaining 75% stake in its PEG-Intron royalty stream to be worth $300 million alone! In addition, the Company had over $190 million of cash and marketable securities as of June 30, 2008 which Enzon could easily tap to implement a share repurchase program, particularly in light of the Company's undervaluation. Indeed, every share that is bought at a discount to intrinsic value makes every remaining share worth more; at current prices, Enzon could repurchase more than half of its outstanding shares with just this existing cash."

Since this letter, shares of Enzon have fallen an additional 30%. Enzon has a short position of 31% of the total shares outstanding. DellaCamera is suggesting that Enzon look at an $80 million share-repurchase program.

Kirk Kerkorian, who owns a whopping 36% of Delta Petroleum (DPTR), feels that the stock is “significantly undervalued.”

From 2003 to 2007, Delta experienced a 37% compounded annual growth rate, or also known as CAGR, in their reserve growth; while experiencing a 27% CARG in their production growth for the same time period. Proven oil reveres jumped from 180 billion cubic feet in 2004 to an unaudited level of 620 billion cubic feet in 2008. Annual production, which is an important measure in determining future cash flows, jumped from 7 billion cubic feet in 2004 to a forecasted range of 25 billion cubic feet to 28 billion cubic feet in 2008.

Empire Capital Partners now owns 19.3% of Entrust (ENTU), a developer of software for securing digital identities and information worldwide. Empire announced it may seek some additional board representations in order to "maximize shareholder value."

Entrust has $23 million in cash in the bank, zero debt and a forward P/E of 8.250.

Activist Investor Triology recently increased its stake in Selectica (SLTC) by 321,120. In total, Trilogay owns about 5.1% of Selectica equity. Even more interesting is that Triology disclosed that it had previously made various proposals to acquire the company.

Selectica trades with a negative enterprise value, as Selectica has a current market cap of $21.25 million, with $31 million in cash, and $5.6 million in debt.

For more activist ideas, including Actel (ACTL), Transmontaigne (TLP) and AutoNation (AN), please check out the Latest Activist Situations portfolio and the latest activist filings from Barron’s.

Posted on Nov. 25, 2008