According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Tuesday, dissident shareholder Harbinger Capital Partners has increased its stake to 11.8 percent in New York Times Co.

Harbinger, a New York University business professor, has criticised the Times for not aggressively focusing on its digital businesses.

The investors have nominated four candidates for the board election at the Times' annual shareholder meeting on April 22.

On Tuesday, Harbinger reported owning 16.9 million shares of New York Times Co. Earlier this month, Harbinger disclosed that it had raised its stake from five percent to over 10 percent, FinanzNachrichten reported.

As of Wednesday morning, New York Times shares gained 63 cents, or 3.4 percent, to $19.32.