Retail investors are cheering activists, according to a little-known June poll brought to light Tuesday by Broc Romanek, author of the top followed Securities and Exchange Commission blogs in Washington.

Nearly three-fourths of the 800 mom-and-pop investors surveyed believe activists add value to companies by pushing corporate executives and boards to take actions that managements are loath to make.

Another three-fourths said public companies are holding more cash than ever and should be doing a lot more to give back to shareholders, reported the Brunswick Group, a corporate relations advisory firm.

Retail investors were evenly divided on whether boards were acting in their best interests.

In the study, more individuals with less than $100,000 in investible assets viewed activists favorably compared with those with in excess of $500,000 by a 76 percent to 67 percent margin.

Women gave higher marks to activists than men, 80 percent to 68 percent.