Marcato Capital raises stake in DineEquity to 9.4 pct

Feb 25 (Reuters) - Hedge fund Marcato Capital Management raised its stake in DineEquity Inc, making it the fourth-largest shareholder in the restaurant operator.

Marcato, run by Richard McGuire, one of the former partners of activist investor William Ackman, had a stake of 9.4 percent as of Feb. 20, compared with 5.5 percent as of Dec. 19.

Earlier this month, Marcato said it planned to nominate candidates to the board of Lear Corp, after disclosing a stake of 5.2 percent in the auto parts maker.

DineEquity, which owns the Applebee's and the IHOP restaurant brands, is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results on Wednesday before markets open. Its third-quarter earnings had beat estimates with the help of gains on the sale of its restaurants to franchisees.

Marcato's top holdings include NCR Corp, Corrections Corp Of America, GenCorp Inc and Cincinnati Bell Inc.

Shares of Glendale, California-based DineEquity, which have risen more than 41 percent in the last six months, were down 1 percent at $73.82 on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.