Bear....it doesn't look like the PPS was doing much of anything until just prior to that Sept 13 date.  You said:  

R&R had minimal impact on the share price last year. The share price was consistently going up starting about a month prior to R&R, which was on 9/13/16. The day before R&R (9/12/16) it closed at $1.86. Over the next few days, it crept up to ~$2  

It doesn't look like it go anywhere near $1.86 on Sept 12th....more like in and around $1.25.