Airplanes, Eyesight and Oil
With significant buys across so many industries, there is no shortage of insiders to watch.
Here is what caught our eye.
$DDR, $MHK, $AMH, $PMI, $IFF, $TEVA, $EYES, $AAT, $XRAY, $UAL, $EXTR, $FLNT, $HBI, $HII, $HGV
In this report, we examine stocks that C-level officers and directors bought and sold ending the week of May 18, 2018.
Insiders sell stock for many reasons, but they generally buy for just one – to make money. As a standard, we only look at material amounts of money, $100 thousand or more, as anything less could just be window dressing.
The bar is different with selling, because the natural state of management is to be sellers. This is because most companies provide significant amounts of management compensation packages as stock. Therefore, with selling, we analyze for unusual patterns, such as insiders selling 25 percent or more of their holdings or multiple insiders selling near 52 week lows.
To learn more about our strategy, visit The Insiders Fund. We welcome your comments on our analysis.
Note: We may own positions, long or short, in any of these names but do not disclose that information nor give those positions extra emphasis in our reports.
This Week’s Buys
DDR (DDR)
The Inside Trade: Director Otto, after buying $19.2 million, is at it again swooping in to buy $38.3 million in the shopping center, REIT, at an average price fo $7.35. DDR now yields 10.48%.
Is that enough to compensate investors for the increased risk to the space do to online commerce? Not sure, but we have added a small amount to the portfolio.
Mohawk (MHK)
The Inside Trade: Director Filip Balcaen buys a massive $31.4 million of this beat up carpet company.
About Mohawk: Mohawk Industries, Inc. designs, manufactures, sources, distributes, and markets flooring products for remodeling and new constructions of residential and commercial spaces worldwide.
American Homes For Rent (AMH)
The Inside Trade: Insiders Wayne Hughes & Tamara Gustavson respectively bought $5.4 million and $10 million worth of AMH.
This company has been buying up single family homes for rental use since 2008. These two and others like them are probably responsible for the lack of reasonably priced starter homes for millennials. It pays a measly 1.02% yield. We also find the business model reprehensible and we have no participation.
Phillip Morris International (PMI)
The Inside Trade: Director L buys $3.3 million at $81.30 while Director Geissler buys $4.0 million at $81.44.
PMI is trading at a multi year low and yields a whopping 5.3%.
International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF)
The Inside Trade: Two insiders bought $171.2 million of the beaten down IFF, while Director Botolli bought 920 at $128.25.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, LTD (TEVA)
The Inside Trade: Director Mignone buys $750 thousand at $19.24.
It was also noted in the 13F that Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett was also a buyer.
Second Sight Medical Products (EYES)
The Inside Trade: Director and 10% owner continues buying with $10 million at $1.48.
I think this is worth looking into.
American Assets Trust (AAT)
The Inside Trade: Chairman, CEO & President Rady buys $5.6 million of this diversified REIT yielding 3.17%.
It’s hard to get excited about a REIT yielding this low in a rising interest rate environment yet Rady continues to buy.
Denstply Sirona (XRAY)
The Inside Trade: CFO Alexos continues to show confidence buys 50 thousand more at $44.71.
That’s a positive development although the same share count indicates it might be more than just opportunistic. As far as I can tell, though, this was an open market purchase and not part of an ESOP.
Meanwhile, new CEO, Casey, took advantage of the X RAY 3 yr low in price and purchased $2.2 million at $44.71.
The bears have owned this stock since our initial purchase. We continue to hold a position here.
United Continental Holdings (UAL)
The Inside Trade: Board member Shapiro buys another 50 thousand shares of UAL at an average price of $65.86.
UAL looks cheap but rising oil prices threaten to hurt margins unless they can raise fares in a very competitive market place.
Extreme Networks (EXTR)
The Inside Trade: Extreme Networks tumbled after an earnings miss and four insiders took advantage of the stock discount to purchase a combined $1.3 million of stock. Director Kenney bought the most with 100 thousand shares at $8.82.
We are a buyer of EXTR.
Fluent Inc (FLNT)
The Inside Trade: Four insiders bought a combined $371.3 thousand of stock, with the largest purchase by President Conlin at $125 thousand.
Cogint announced on April 12 that it will change its name to Fluent with the culmination of recent strategic changes at the company, including the spin off of Red Violet (ROVT). Barrington initiated it with an outperform and a target of $4.
Hanesbrands, Inc. (HBI)
The Inside Trade: Three insiders bought a combined $1.2 million with the largest purchase by Director Singer at $553.5 thousand.
On May 1, B.Riley, FBR analyst, said HBI had a solid beat for Q1 and that the free cash flow is intact. That analyst views the valuation as attractive and recommends buying HBI aggressively with a $30 target. We are putting this on our radar but with $4 billion in debt, we are hesitant to call this a screaming buy.
Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII)
The Inside Trade: Three insiders bought $635 thousand worth of the ship builder stock, taking advantage of a small drop in price.
This is remarkable considering HII is up 500% since 2012. I supposed lots of money going into revitalizing the Navy is fueling the animal spirits.
Hilton Grand Vacations (HGV)
The Inside Trade: Chairman Potter took advantage of the HGV stock drop to purchase $1 million worth of stock, tripling the size of his holdings.
We bought some of this.
This Week’s Sells
Virtu Financial (VIRT)
The Inside Trade: Insiders have gone from buyers to sellers, unloading $182.8 million of this brokerage and investment company.
Blueprint Medicines Corp (BPMC)
The Inside Trade: Director Alexis, nominee of Third Point Ventures, unloaded $124.5 million of stock which reduced his holdings by 62.8%.
Garmin (GRMN)
The Inside Trade: Chairman Kao sold $132 million of Garmin.
Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD)
The Inside Trade: Insiders have gone from buyers to sellers of this lead fracking company. Seven insiders sold $13.4 million of stock but this may just be opportunistic, taking advantage of the rise in the price of crude.
CarGurus (CARG)
The Inside Trade: Seven insiders have planned sales of CarGurus too the tune of $10.3 million.