(By Balachander) Diamond Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) shares jumped Monday after BlackRock said it acquired a stake in the maker of Emerald nuts and Pop Secret popcorn.
A regulatory filing showed the investment firm held a 7.85 percent stake in the San Francisco-based snack-food company.
Diamond Foods financial results have been hit by an accounting scandal over payments to walnut growers. Early last year, the company announced that its audit committee found faults with regard to payments to walnut growers in 2010 and 2011 and that it will be restating its results for these two years.
The internal enquiry over the scandal caused the ouster of the company's chief executive and chief financial officer and also resulted in the collapse of Diamond's deal to acquire Pringles potato chip unit from Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG).
For the first quarter ended October 2012, the company's non-GAAP earnings more than halved to $5.22 million and sales dropped 10 percent.
Shares jumped 11.87 percent to trade at $16.17 on Monday at 12.37 pm ET. The stock has been trading in the 52-week range between $12.85 and $28.29.