Dolan Takeover Talk Drives Cablevision Stock Higher

Thursday's, mid-morning intra-day spike in Cablevision (CVC) shares was no aberration. During the 11 o'clock hour, the stock jumped from a low of $23.75 to $25.75 for a gain of 8.4% in a matter of minutes on a surge in volume. Active trading was present for most of the day, with volume ticking up over 5.1 million shares, nearly three times the daily average volume by mid-afternoon.

According to theflyonthewall.com, which reports breaking news from analyst and trading desk sources, the movement in Cablevision stock is being attributed to takeover talk. It's not very far-fetched and appears to be picking up some steam as just over a week or so ago - Jan. 29 to be exact - when Pali Capital's Rich Greenfield went out on a limb and said that with the stock down 40% and trading near its lowest levels of the year near $23 a share, the Dolan family could launch another bid to take the cable provider private. In reaction to his hypothesis, the stock popped 7% that day.

Shareholders, led by ClearBridge Advisors and fund manager Mario Gabelli, rejected the Dolan family's previous bid for Cablevision that was made on Oct. 25, 2007. It was worth $10.6 billion, or $36.26 a share.