Icahn boosts Hain Celestial stake

Activist investor Carl Icahn has raised his stake in Hain Celestial Group Inc. to 16.3 percent, in the latest of a series of stock purchases of the Melville-based healthy foods maker.

Icahn on Dec. 1 held 15.3 percent of the company and on Sept. 13 held 14.31 percent, according to the Reuters news agency.

The investor has been steadily adding to his Hain holdings in recent months since the company in July agreed to seat on the Hain board his son and one other Icahn company executive, David S. Schechter, managing director of Icahn Capital Group.

In accordance with the July deal with Hain, Icahn was given the two directors' seats in exchange for his support for the company's current slate of directors.