Dow Jones Soars on Sale Talk

Shares of Dow Jones & Co., publisher of the Wall Street Journal, rose the most in a decade or more Monday after the New York Post reported that younger heirs of the controlling Bancroft family were pressing their elders to sell the company.

The shares rose $4.09 to $41.14. Before Monday, the New York-based company’s shares had fallen 14% since Jan. 1.

The Post’s story, which didn’t cite any sources, echoes an article that appeared three months ago in Business Week. The reports reflect years of frustration by some of the Bancrofts over the company’s performance, said Douglas Arthur, an analyst with Morgan Stanley.

Shareholders voted in April to make it easier for the Bancrofts to sell stock while keeping control of the company. The Bancrofts are descendants of Jane W.W. Bancroft, whose stepfather, Clarence Barron, acquired Dow Jones in 1902.

Christopher Bancroft, an owner of an investment firm, his cousin Elizabeth Steele, who runs a redevelopment company, and their cousin Leslie Hill, a retired airline pilot, are on the board.

Roy Hammer, a Dow Jones director who serves as the trustee for the Bancroft family, said in an interview Monday that the company wasn’t for sale. Dow Jones spokeswoman Amy Wolfcale declined to comment.

Christopher Bancroft declined to comment, as did Elisabeth Goth, a Bancroft family member who has criticized Dow Jones management in the past. The New York Post story sparked the first rally this year in stocks of newspaper publishers, said Peter Appert, an analyst with Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Gannett Co., whose papers include USA Today, rose $2.31 to $74.04. Tribune Co., which owns the Los Angeles Times and other papers, jumped 45 cents to $38.87, while New York Times Co. gained $1.38 to $32.78.