Insiders are coming out in force to buy regional and community banks. Normally significant insider buys are met with a predictable market response, a positive bounce between 3%-5%. This is not happening. There is no urgency, as the stocks, for the most part, are lower than when the “informed investor” purchased the shares. I like to believe that no one knows more about the business than the people running it, but banks may be a glaring exception to my dogma. First of all, banks’ balance sheets are complicated and notoriously obtuse. 2008 should serve as an indelible reminder of that. Throw in the incendiary nature of leverage, and it doesn’t take much for a bushfire-like mistake to burn down the whole forest. Think Bob Steel, CEO of Wachovia, $10 million purchase just a month before his bank was rescued by Wells Fargo.
Lest you think this blog post is about banks, it’s not. I spend precious little time analyzing the unknowable. There are fascinating buys in Albermarles, Blackstone Mortgage, Civitas, Heartland Express, Tysons, and more. As dark as the storm clouds look, there is a growing consensus that the Fed’s rate hiking cycle is over, and inflation caused by Government spending has come to an end. 5% percent money markets may be enticing, but they are likely not going higher and even more likely to be going down sooner than later. The obvious pivot to the highest market capitalization and best balance sheet tech stocks may be a false feint as the best returns are usually found in the best values. Buy low, sell high doesn’t stay out of fashion forever.
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Name: Kristin M. Coleman
Position: EVP, General Counsel
Transaction Date: 2023-05-05 Shares Bought: 1,373 Average Price Paid: $182.00 Cost: $249,886
Company: Albemarle Corp (ALB)
Name: J Kent Masters
Position: Chairman & CEO
Transaction Date: 2023-05-05 Shares Bought: 5,470 Average Price Paid: $181.64 Cost: $993,571
Company: Albemarle Corp (ALB)
Albemarle Corporation was founded in 1993 in Virginia. Albemarle is a worldwide leader in the development, production, and marketing of highly engineered specialty chemicals tailored to fulfill clients’ demands in a wide variety of end industries. The company’s mission is to make the world more secure and sustainable by unleashing people’s potential. Energy storage, petroleum refining, consumer electronics, construction, automotive, lubricants, medicines, and crop protection are among the end markets served by the firm. The company believes that its commercial and geographic diversity, technical expertise, access to high-quality resources, innovative capability, flexible, low-cost global manufacturing base, experienced management team, and strategic focus on core base technologies will enable it to maintain leadership positions in the specialty chemicals industry segments in which it operates.
Kristin M. Coleman has served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel since November 2022. She also served as the Secretary, Chief Compliance Officer, and EVP of US Foods Holding Corp., the Secretary, Director, and Vice President of Save on Seafood Fishing, Inc., and the EVP, General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer of US Foods, Inc. Kristin M. Coleman previously served as Deputy General Counsel at Brunswick Corp., Secretary, Vice President, and General Counsel at Brunswick Corp., Secretary, Senior Vice President, and General Counsel at Sears Holdings Corp., Member of The Economic Club of Chicago, and Vice President and Associate General Counsel at Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. Ms. Coleman earned her undergraduate degree at Duke University and her law degree at The University of Michigan.
Kent Masters was named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Albemarle Corporation in April 2020. He was appointed to the Albemarle board of directors in 2015 and was the company’s Lead Independent Director from 2018 to April 2020. Masters has extensive worldwide commercial expertise and a thorough understanding of Albemarle’s strategy, principles, and history. He joined the company’s board of directors as part of the purchase of Rockwood Holdings Inc., where he had served on the Rockwood board of directors since 2007. Masters was an Operating Partner at Advent International, an international private equity firm, before joining Albemarle. Masters has a Master of Business Administration from New York University and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.
Opinion: I was waiting for affirmation from insiders on Albermarle. Crashing China spot lithium prices combined with Chile’s nationalization of the lithium evaporation ponds that supply 20% of the world’s supply and are key to Albermarle’s raw product feedstock sent its stock price crashing to a durable low. Automakers are going electric be damned, or as they say, ‘hell or high water.’
Name: Martin D Madaus
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-05-04 Shares Bought: 1,500 Average Price Paid: $158.84 Cost: $238,260
Company: Repligen Corp (RGEN)
Repligen Corporation is a worldwide life sciences firm that develops and commercializes cutting-edge bioprocessing technologies and systems to improve efficiency and flexibility in synthesizing biological pharmaceuticals. Building on over 40 years of industry knowledge, the firm has established a comprehensive and diverse product range that shows the company’s enthusiasm for innovation and customer-first attitude. As the biologics industry grows and expands, major clients – multinational biopharmaceutical firms, contract development and manufacturing organizations, and other life science enterprises – confront severe production costs, capacity, quality, and time constraints. The firm presently operates as a single bioprocessing business with a complete product range to support upstream and downstream biological drug manufacturing processes.
Martin D. Madaus, Ph.D., has been a director of Repligen since February 2023. Dr. Madaus joins the Board with over 25 years of industry experience, including five years as Chairman, President, and CEO of Millipore Corporation. He was instrumental in the company’s development into a life science leader and its purchase by Merck KGaA in 2010. Martin D. Madaus is a businessman who has served as Chairman of Quanterix Corp., Executive Chairman of Emulate, Inc., and Chief Operations Officer of Sherlock Biosciences, Inc. He has doctorates from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and The University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover.
Opinion: After the long prices decline, I’ll need larger and more insider buying before I can dig deeper into Repligen’s business.
Name: Travis L Counts
Position: Chief Legal Officer & Sec.
Transaction Date: 2023-05-05 Shares Bought: 6,835 Average Price Paid: $68.20 Cost: $466,126
Company: Civitas Resources Inc. (CIVI)
Civitas is an independent exploration and production company focusing on acquiring, developing, and producing oil and associated liquids-rich natural gas in Colorado’s Denver-Julesburg Basin. The Company’s operations are focused on developing the horizontal Niobrara and Codell formations, which have a low-cost structure, mature infrastructure, strong production efficiencies, multiple producing horizons, multiple service providers, established reserves, and prospective drilling opportunities, all of which contribute to predictable production and the achievement of our business objectives. The Company is also aggressively exploring programs to decrease or eliminate carbon emissions related to its activities, with the residual emissions offset via the retirement of certified carbon offsets and renewable energy credits.
Travis Counts has been Chief Legal Officer and Secretary for Civitas Resources, Inc. since August 2022. Mr. Counts formerly worked as a partner at the legal firm Bracewell. Mr. Counts served as General Counsel of Concho Resources Inc. from 2013 to 2021, most recently as Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary until the company was sold to ConocoPhillips. Before 2013, Mr. Counts worked for Halcon Resources Corp. as Vice President, Legal, and Deputy General Counsel and for Petrohawk Energy Corp. as Associate General Counsel-Corporate. Mr. Counts formerly worked as a member of the Hinkle Elkouri Law Firm. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Vanderbilt University and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Tulane University School of Law. He graduated magna cum laude and was a member of the Order of the Coif.
Opinion: Most oil and gas stocks trade alike- up and down with the price of the underlying commodity. Not Civitas. Not sure what’s going on here, but shareholders have to love it. I think I do, too, with 45% crude oil, 31% natural gas, and 24% natural gas liquids. Prices for the commodity were lower across the board, yet Civitas stock price is higher than when the year started. Its current 6.19% variable dividend, healthy free cash flow in the quarter of $186.5 Million, and stock buybacks have a lot to do with that.
Name: John Jr Rakolta
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-05-08 Shares Bought: 10,495 Average Price Paid: $67.85 Cost: $712,086
Company: Agree Realty Corp. (ADC)
Agree Realty Corp is a fully integrated REIT that focuses on owning, acquiring, developing, and managing retail properties that are net leased to top-tier tenants in the sector. Richard Agree, the company’s current executive chairman, created it in 1971, and its common stock was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1994. The Operating Partnership, of which the Company is the only general partner and in which it owned a 99.5% common interest as of December 31, 2021, is where all of the Company’s assets are kept and through which all of its activities are carried out, directly or indirectly. The Operating Partnership’s partnership agreement says that, as the only general partner, the Company is in charge of and has full control over how the Operating Partnership is run.
John Rakolta is the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition’s co-chairman at the moment. He serves on the boards of eight other businesses. He formerly held the positions of Chairman and CEO of Walbridge Aldinger LLC, Chairman, and CEO of The Walbridge Group, Inc., and member of the executive committee of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. Marquette University awarded him a degree in undergraduate studies.
Opinion: I don’t think so.
Name: Johanna Soderstrom
Position: EVP & Chief People Officer
Transaction Date: 2023-05-12 Shares Bought: 5,000 Average Price Paid: $49.22 Cost: $246,109
Company: Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN)
Name: Donnie King
Position: President & CEO
Transaction Date: 2023-05-12 Shares Bought: 10,350 Average Price Paid: $48.35 Cost: $500,423
Company: Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN)
Name: Wes Morris
Position: Group President Poultry
Transaction Date: 2023-05-10 Shares Bought: 10,362 Average Price Paid: $48.18 Cost: $499,241
Company: Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN)
Tyson Foods, Inc., established in 1935 by John W. Tyson, is one of the world’s biggest food corporations and a recognized leader in protein. The firm has a completely vertically integrated chicken production process, with most products certified as antibiotic-free. Breeding stock, contract farmers, feed production, processing, further processing, marketing, and shipping of chicken and allied specialty goods, including animal and pet food components, are all part of the company’s integrated activities. The firm also processes live-fed calves and pigs, dressing dressed beef and pork carcasses into primal and sub-primal meat pieces, case-ready beef and pork, and fully-cooked meats. Furthermore, the corporation derives value from specialty items supplied to additional processors and others, such as hides and various types of meat.
Johanna Söderström oversees all facets of the business’s worldwide people strategy, which supports its broader goal for development, innovation, and change. Johanna reports to President and chief executive officer Donnie King as a Tyson Foods’ enterprise leadership team member. Tyson Foods benefits from Johanna’s over 20 years of expertise in talent development, employee engagement, and global people solutions. She most recently held the Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer position at The Dow Chemical Company. She led the company’s organizational and cultural change due to the merger with and spin off from DowDuPont. She formerly oversaw worldwide benefits and compensation at Huhtamaki, a firm that manufactures sustainable food packaging. She started her career with Ericsson in Finland and held HR positions in Germany and Switzerland.
Donnie King is President and CEO of Tyson Foods. As CEO, Donnie blends a strong commitment to honesty and a passion for sustainability with a drive for operational and financial performance. Donnie began working for Tyson Foods in 1982 in the poultry division and has subsequently held executive roles throughout the organization. Donnie most recently aided in expanding Tyson’s worldwide presence, notably in fast-growing markets in Asia, as Chief Operating Officer and President of the International Business Group. Additionally, he was President of North American Operations, overseeing the operations for poultry, fresh meats, international trade, and prepared foods. He graduated from the University of Arkansas at Monticello with a bachelor’s in business management.
Wes Morris was designated Group President of Poultry in January 2023. Wes has over 35 years of expertise in poultry and consumer sales. He joined Tyson Foods in 1999 and has held many leadership roles, including group vice president of consumer goods, until retiring in 2017 as President of Prepared Foods Operations. Morris has been a consultant to Tyson Foods since 2020. After retiring, Wes returned to the poultry sector as Chief Financial Officer for Simmons Foods from 2018 to 2019. Subsequently, he served as a consultant for Tyson Foods’ chicken division from 2020 to 2022. Before joining Tyson, he had several sales and sales management positions at Dial Corporation, Andrew Jergens Company, and Acosta Brokerage. Wes earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Arkansas.
Opinion: Classic buy them when they are down move. Tyson is the market-leading meats producer in the United States by far and has a hold on roughly 20% of the market share as of Apr 11, 2023. This one will likely come back but when? The company reported “surprisingly weak earnings last quarter. Inflation is taking a bite out of everyone, including Tyson’s margins and consumer appetites.
Name: Carlos M Sepulveda
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-05-08 Shares Bought: 7,835 Average Price Paid: $48.86 Cost: $382,818
Company: Triumph Financial Inc. (TFIN)
Triumph Financial, Inc. is a financial holding company that provides various payment, factoring, and banking services. Through TBK Bank, the firm provides conventional banking services, commercial lending product lines geared towards enterprises needing specialized financial solutions, and national lending product lines to diversify lending activities. Aside from regular banking activities, the firm also operates a factoring business, largely supplying the over-the-road trucking sector. This firm provides working capital to the trucking sector by purchasing invoices issued by small to medium-sized trucking fleets at a discount to provide such Carriers with instant operating liquidity. TriumphPay is a TBK Bank company that operates a payments network for the over-the-road transportation sector.
Carlos M. Sepulveda, Jr. has served as Chairman of the Triumph Financial, Inc. Board of Directors from the company’s founding in 2010. He is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of TBK Bank, SSB, and a director of Triumph Financial Services LLC and Triumph Insurance Group, Inc. Mr. Sepulveda worked with Interstate Battery System International for 23 years, the final nine as President and CEO. He is still a member of the Interstate Batteries Board of Directors, a position he has held since 1995. Mr. Sepulveda graduated with honors from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Business Administration. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Opinion: Trucking is down, and with it, the financiers.
Name: Michael E Pegram
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-05-05 Shares Bought: 25,000 Average Price Paid: $45.02 Cost: $1,125,433
Company: Caesars Entertainment Inc. (CZR)
Caesars Entertainment Inc. was founded in 1973 by the Carano family, who opened the Eldorado Hotel Casino in Reno, Nevada. Beginning in 2005, the company grew via a series of acquisitions, including Tropicana Entertainment, Inc. in 2018, Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc. in 2017, and MTR Gaming Group, Inc. in 2014. On April 22, 2021, the company finalized the purchase of William Hill PLC. The major source of revenue comes from casino gaming operations, retail and online sports betting, and internet gaming. The corporation also employs hotels, restaurants, bars, entertainment, horse racing, retail outlets, and other activities to attract people.
Michael E. Pegram was on the board of directors of Eldorado Resorts, Inc., from September 2014 until July 2020. He was appointed to the board of directors of Caesars Entertainment, Inc. at the time under the terms of the merger agreement with Eldorado Resorts, Inc. Mr. Pegram has been a partner in Carson City’s Bodines Casino since January 2007, and the Carson Valley Inn in Minden, Nevada, since June 2009. Mr. Pegram has owned and operated 25 McDonald’s franchises for over thirty years. Mr. Pegram has also served as a director of Skagit State Bancorp since April 1997. Mr. Pegram was picked as a director due to his extensive understanding of the horse racing industry and his experience as an investor, business owner, and director of multiple organizations.
Opinion: The stock market is a gamble enough without betting on the gamblers.
Name: Dominic Ng
Position: Chief Executive Officer
Transaction Date: 2023-05-05 Shares Bought: 5,700 Average Price Paid: $43.94 Cost: $250,437
Company: East West Bancorp Inc (EWBC)
East West is a bank holding company founded on August 26, 1998, in Delaware and registered under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956. The Corporation began operations on December 30, 1998, when it bought all of the voting shares of East West Bank as part of a restructuring, which became its primary asset. The organization is devoted to developing loans, deposits, and income, improving profitability and investing for the future while controlling risks, expenditures, and capital. The company’s business approach is based on client loyalty and involvement, understanding customers’ financial objectives, and satisfying customers’ financial requirements via various goods and services.
Dominic Ng has been the Chairman and CEO of East West Bank, the biggest publicly traded independent bank in Southern California, since 1991. Mr. Ng is the Chair of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Corporate Advisory Council, the major corporate voice advising APEC heads of state and government on the region’s economic progress. Mr. Ng has received several awards for his business accomplishments and charitable contributions, including being named one of Forbes’ 25 most significant Chinese Americans, one of the Los Angeles Times 100 most important persons in Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles Business Journal’s Business Person of the Year. He is a Certified Public Accountant with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston and an honorary Doctor of Law from Occidental College.
Opinion: I’m taking a banking holiday. The sector is scary. Bank management is notoriously bad at understanding the risks on their complicated and leveraged balance sheets.
Name: James B Kelligrew
Position: Vice Chair
Transaction Date: 2023-05-08 Shares Bought: 16,260 Average Price Paid: $30.59 Cost: $497,475
Company: US Bancorp. (USB)
Name: Richard P McKenney
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-05-05 Shares Bought: 20,000 Average Price Paid: $30.37 Cost: $607,320
Company: US Bancorp. (USB)
U.S. Bancorp, a financial service holding corporation, offers various financial services to people, companies, institutional organizations, governmental agencies, and other financial institutions in the United States. It operates in the Corporate and Commercial Banking, Consumer and Business Banking, Wealth Management and Investment Services, Payment Services, and Treasury and Corporate Support sectors. The company provides depository services such as checking accounts, savings accounts, and time certificate contracts; lending services such as traditional credit products; credit card services; lease financing and import/export trade; asset-backed lending; agricultural finance; and other products. It also offers corporate and governmental entity clients capital markets, treasury management, and receivable lockbox collection services.
Mr. Kelligrew is U.S. Bancorp’s Vice Chair, Corporate & Commercial Banking. Mr. Kelligrew has held this post since January of this year. He was Executive Vice President, Fixed Income & Capital Markets at U.S. Bancorp from March 2014 to December 2015, after serving as Executive Vice President, Credit Fixed Income at U.S. Bancorp from May 2009 to March 2014. Before that, from 2003 to 2009, he held different senior roles with Wells Fargo Securities, and from 1993 to 2003, with Bank of America Securities.
Mr. McKenney is the President and CEO of Unum Group, a provider of workplace financial security products. He has been President since April 2015 and Chief Executive Officer since May of the same year. From 2009 through 2015, Mr. McKenney was Unum’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. From 2006 until 2009, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Sun Life Financial, Inc., an international financial services firm. Mr. McKenney started his career with General Electric Company, progressing from production to finance management.
Opinion: I’m taking a banking holiday. The sector is scary. Bank management is notoriously bad at understanding the risks on their complicated balance sheets. Throw in leverage and you can light a fire with the fumes.
Name: James L Janik
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-05-08 Shares Bought: 10,000 Average Price Paid: $26.99 Cost: $269,865
Company: Douglas Dynamics Inc (PLOW)
Douglas Dynamics, Inc., the home of the industry’s best-selling brands, is North America’s foremost producer and up fitter of commercial work truck attachments and equipment. For more than 75 years, the Company has been developing solutions that help end-users accomplish their duties more efficiently and effectively, allowing companies to boost their profitability. Douglas Dynamics’ product and service offerings are divided into two categories: The first is Work Truck equipment, which comprises the activities that produce and market snow and ice management equipment. The second sector is Work Truck Solutions, which comprises manufactured municipal snow and ice management equipment and the installation of market-leading accessories and storage solutions. The Company is always looking for ways to employ lean concepts to save costs and improve the efficiency of its production processes.
James L. Janik has been Chairman of the Board of Directors since 2014 and has been a director of the Company since 2004. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Jason Industries L.L.C. Mr. Janik worked with Douglas Dynamics for a long time, beginning in 1992 as Director of Western Product Sales. From 1994 to 2000, he was General Manager of the Western Products division, and from 1998 to 2000, he was Vice President of Marketing and Sales. Mr. Janik was the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer from 2000 until 2018. Mr. Janik was the Vice President of Marketing and Sales at Sunlite Plastics Inc. before joining Douglas Dynamics. He spent eleven years with John Deere Company in various critical marketing, sales, and production management roles.
Opinion: According to management,”- snowfall was well below the 10-year average, and the location and timing of snow and ice events missed some of our most important markets,” noted Bob McCormick, President and CEO. ” While our Solutions segment turned in a good quarter, our consolidated results came in well below our initial expectations, hence our Mid-April release of preliminary results and 2023 guidance update.” They obviously were not working in Utah, where all the ski resorts set record amounts of snowfall.
Name: Richard E Jr Allison
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-05-11 Shares Bought: 20,000 Average Price Paid: $26.26 Cost: $525,232
Company: Kenvue Inc. (KVUE)
Kenvue Inc. is a consumer health firm that works globally. The three business segments are self Care, Skin Health and Beauty, and Essential Health. Under the Tylenol, Nicorette, and Zyrtec brands, the Self Care division sells medications for cough, cold, and allergy relief, pain management, digestive health, and quitting smoking, among other things. Face and body care, hair care, sun, and other care products are offered by the Skin Health and Beauty section largely under the Neutrogena, Aveeno, and OGX brand names. Under the Listerine, Johnson’s, Band-Aid, and Stayfree brands, the Essential Health division principally sells women’s health, wound treatment, and oral and infant care items. The business was founded in 2022, and its main office is in Skillman, New Jersey. It was operating as a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary of Kenvue Inc.
Richard E. Allison, Jr. served as Chief Executive Officer and a Domino’s Pizza, Inc. board member from 2018 to 2022. Before this, he held the positions of Executive Vice President and President of Domino’s International. Before working at Domino’s, Mr. Allison spent more than 13 years at Bain & Company, Inc., a partner from 2004 to 2010 and the co-leader of Bain’s restaurant practice. He presently has a position on Starbucks Corporation’s board of directors. Mr. Allison has an MBA from the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, where he also serves on the board of advisors, and a B.S. in business administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Opinion: Take this insider buy with a grain of salt. This was the IPO of J&J’s consumer products division.
Name: Orrin H II Ingram
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-05-04 Shares Bought: 7,965 Average Price Paid: $25.19 Cost: $200,638
Company: FB Financial Corp (FBK)
FB Financial Corporation is a financial holding company and a bank holding company. The headquarters are in Nashville, Tennessee. FirstBank, the wholly-owned bank subsidiary, offers customers a full suite of business and consumer banking services in select locations, notably in Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, and North Georgia. Throughout its history, the bank has maintained a community banking approach of personalized relationship-based service delivered locally by experienced bankers in each market. Maintaining this relationship-based strategy, using local, skilled, and experienced bankers in each area, has been a key component of the bank’s success as it has developed.
Orrin H. Ingram is an American businessman who has served as Chairman of Ingram Marine Group and President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of Ingram Industries, Inc. Mr. Ingram also serves on the boards of six other corporations. He previously served as an Advisor at TVV Capital, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Ingram Barge Co. LLC, Chairman of Vanderbilt University Medical Centre, Chairman of The Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Centre, Chairman of the United States Polo Association, and Chairman of the Polo Training Foundation. Vanderbilt University provided Orrin H. Ingram with his undergraduate degree.
Opinion: I’m taking a banking holiday. The sector is scary. Bank management is notoriously bad at understanding the risks on their complicated balance sheets. Smallish buy doesn’t interest me.
Name: Randall H Talbot
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-05-11 Shares Bought: 5,000 Average Price Paid: $25.18 Cost: $125,900
Company: Washington Federal Inc (WAFD)
Name: David K Grant
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-05-11 Shares Bought: 10,000 Average Price Paid: $24.93 Cost: $249,350
Company: Washington Federal Inc (WAFD)
Washington Federal Bank, a federally-insured Washington state-chartered commercial bank dba WaFd Bank, was founded on April 24, 1917, in Ballard, Washington, and primarily provides lending, depository, insurance, and other banking services to consumers, mid-sized to large businesses, and commercial real estate owners and developers. In November 1994, Washington Federal, Inc., a Washington corporation, was incorporated as the Bank’s holding company. On January 3, 2022, the Bank stated that it had applied to the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions to change from a nationwide organization to a Washington state-chartered non-Federal Reserve member bank. The Bank’s primary activity is receiving deposits from the general public and investing these monies in different loans, such as first-lien mortgages on single-family houses, construction loans, and commercial loans.
Randall H. Talbot, a WaFd Bank Director since July 2012, is the Managing Director of Talbot Financial LLC, an investment advising business, where he has worked since 2010. From 2004 until June 2010, Mr. Talbot was the Director, CEO, and President of Symetra Financial Corporation. From March 2008 to November 2014, he was Director of Concur Technologies, Inc. Mr. Talbot joined the previous parent company of Symetra Financial Corporation, Safeco Corporation, in 1998 and served as President of Safeco Life Insurance Company from 1998 to 2004.
David Grant joined the board of directors of WaFd Bank in September 2012. Grant is the Managing Partner of Catalyst Storage Partners, a privately owned multinational company specializing in self-storage development, investing, and consultancy. Grant spent 20 years with Shurgard Storage Centres, an NYSE-traded Real Estate Investment Trust that owned and managed a portfolio of over 600 facilities, before founding Catalyst. Grant started his career as a Certified Public Accountant in 1975 with Touche Ross & Co, remaining until 1985, when he joined Shurgard.
Opinion I’m on a banking holiday. The sector is scary. Bank management is notoriously bad at understanding the risks on their complicated balance sheets.
Name: Robert J Fitzsimmons
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-05-08 Shares Bought: 9,500 Average Price Paid: $22.79 Cost: $216,505
Company: Wesbanco Inc (WSBC)
WesBanco, Inc. is the parent company of WesBanco Bank, Inc., which offers retail banking, corporate banking, personal and corporate trust, brokerage, mortgage banking, and insurance services. The organization is divided into Community Banking and Trust and Investment Services. It provides commercial demand, individual demand, and time deposit accounts; commercial, mortgage, and individual installment loans; retail loans such as residential real estate mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit, and other consumer loans; and installment loans to finance the purchase of automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, boats, and other recreational vehicles. The corporation was established in 1870 and is based in Wheeling, West Virginia.
Robert J. Fitzsimmons has been a member of the Corporation’s Board of Directors since April 18, 2018. Since May 2004, he has been a member of the Fitzsimmons Law Firm, PLLC. He is now a member of the Corporation’s Insurance Committee. From January 2013 until January 2015, he was a West Virginia State Senator. He has also previously served as a director of First West Virginia Bancorp., a West Virginia bank holding business, from May 2014 until February 2018. Mr. Fitzsimmons received a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Washington University and a Juris Doctorate from Wake Forest University College of Law.
Opinion: I’m taking a banking holiday. The sector is scary. Bank management is notoriously bad at understanding the risks on their complicated balance sheets.
Name: Rebecca K Robinson
Position: Executive Vice President
Transaction Date: 2023-05-04 Shares Bought: 10,000 Average Price Paid: $20.38 Cost: $203,780
Company: Zions Bancorporation National Association (ZION)
Name: Claire A Huang
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-05-04 Shares Bought: 24,000 Average Price Paid: $20.01 Cost: $480,282
Company: Zions Bancorporation National Association (ZION)
Zions Bancorporation National Association mainly serves the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming with different banking and associated services. Corporate banking services; commercial banking, with a focus on small and medium-sized businesses; commercial real estate banking services; municipal and public finance services; retail banking, including residential mortgages; trust services; wealth management and private client banking services; and capital markets products and services are all provided by the company. In September 2018, the firm changed its name from ZB, National Association, to Zions Bancorporation, National Association. Zions Bancorporation, National Association, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, was formed in 1873.
Rebecca K. Robinson is Zions Bancorporation’s senior vice president and director of Wealth Management. Robinson is a Certified Public Accountant as well as a Certified Financial Planner. She was a senior manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP in Washington, DC, until joining Zions Trust in 2013. Robinson has worked in the financial services business for over 20 years. She graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor of Science in Business and a Master of Professional Accountancy.
Claire A. Huang was appointed to the Zions Bancorporation board of directors in 2020. She has over 30 years of experience as a worldwide brand creator across numerous sectors. From 2012 until 2014, she was the chief marketing officer of J.P. Morgan Chase and Company after a stint as the head of worldwide marketing, international communications, and corporate social responsibility at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Before joining Bank of America, she was formerly the head of Fidelity Investments’ marketing and client strategy departments. Her first job in finance was with American Express. She began her career as a turnaround and growth specialist in consumer goods firms, starting with Procter & Gamble.
Opinion: I’m taking a banking holiday. The sector is scary. Bank management is notoriously bad at understanding the risks on their complicated balance sheets. I don’t think depositor flight is a big risk here but the commercial real estate on their books is an unknowable liability.
Name: Michael B. Nash
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-05-10 Shares Bought: 50,000 Average Price Paid: $17.22 Cost: $860,810
Company: Blackstone Mortgage Trust Inc. (BXMT)
Blackstone Mortgage Trust is a real estate financing business based in North America, Europe, and Australia that originates senior loans secured by commercial real estate. The company’s portfolio generally comprises loans secured by high-quality institutional properties in significant markets, which experienced, well-capitalized real estate investment owners and operators sponsor. These senior loans are capitalized using several financing alternatives, including borrowing under credit facilities, issuing CLOs or single-asset securitizations, and syndicating senior loan participations, depending on each investment’s most suitable financing option. The corporation is not purchasing or trading securities and the only securities it owns are the retained interests from securitization financing operations that it did not fund.
Michael Nash is the Chairman and Co-Founder of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies. Mr. Nash serves on the Real Estate Investment Committees of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies and Blackstone Real Estate Advisers. He also serves as the Executive Chairman of Blackstone Mortgage Trust. Mr. Nash also became Chairman of Blackstone’s GP Stakes division, which focuses on purchasing minority ownership interests in private equity and other private-market alternative asset management businesses, in 2021. Before 1997, Mr. Nash worked for Barclays Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, and Deloitte Haskins & Sells. Mr. Nash has a B.S. in Accounting from the State University of New York at Albany and an M.B.A. in Finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Opinion: High up on the credit spectrum, run by smart people. This might be a good speculation. At least you get paid-14.4% for now.
Name: Thomas L Jr Carter
Position: CEO and Chairman
Transaction Date: 2023-05-05 Shares Bought: 31,800 Average Price Paid: $15.53 Cost: $494,007
Company: Black Stone Minerals L.P. (BSM)
Black Stone Minerals L.P. is one of the United States’ biggest owners and managers of oil and natural gas mineral holdings. The company’s main activity is to actively manage and increase the value of current mineral and royalty assets while broadening the asset base through the purchase of new mineral and royalty holdings. The company adds value by letting people know about mineral properties that are available for lease, coming up with creative ways to structure lease agreements to encourage and speed up drilling, and carefully choosing which lessees to work with on a working interest basis. The company thinks that its wide range of assets and long-lasting, non-cost-bearing mineral and royalty interests will lead to consistent production and reserves over time. This will allow it to give unitholders the vast majority of its cash flow.
Mr. Carter served as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of the General Partner from November 2014 until June 2018. Mr. Carter started BSMC, which was the company before us. From 1998 to 2015, he was also President, CEO, and Chairman of Black Stone Natural Resources, L.L.C., which was BSMC’s previous general partner. Mr. Carter also established BSMC. Mr. Carter was the managing general partner of W.T. from 1987 until 1992. Carter & Bro., the forerunner of the general partner, and Black Stone Energy Company from 1980 to the present. Mr. Carter founded Black Stone Energy Company, BSMC’s operating and exploratory division, in 1980. Mr. Carter earned a B.B.A. and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Carter has been a director of Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. since 2005.
Opinion: Solid royalty trust yielding 12.54% Peter Zeihan says fossil fuels will be around us for far longer than anyone imagines. I agree.
Name: Michael J Gerdin
Position: Chief Executive Officer/10% Owner
Transaction Date: 2023-05-08 Shares Bought: 64,304 Average Price Paid: $15.12 Cost: $972,287
Transaction Date: 2023-05-08 Shares Bought: 103,254 Average Price Paid: $14.91 Cost: $1,539,171
Company: Heartland Express Inc (HTLD)
Name: Angela K Janssen, Ann S Gerdin, Julie J Durr
Position: Co-Trustee of 10% Owner/10% Owner
Transaction Date: 2023-05-04 Shares Bought: 51,784 Average Price Paid: $14.93 Cost: $772,907
Company: Heartland Express Inc (HTLD)
Name: Michael John Sullivan
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-05-02 Shares Bought: 2,000 Average Price Paid: $14.48 Cost: $28,970
Company: Heartland Express Inc (HTLD)
Heartland Express, Inc. is a short-to-medium and long-haul freight carrier that operates in the United States and Canada. It mainly serves shippers with countrywide asset-based dry van truckload service, cross-border freight and other transportation services, and temperature-controlled truckload services. Heartland Express and Millis Transfer are two of the company’s brand names. Its primary customers include merchants and manufacturers in the consumer goods, appliances, food, and automotive sectors. Heartland Express, Inc. was established in 1978 and is based in North Liberty, Iowa.
Michael Gerdin, the CEO of Heartland Express, began his career in 1983 as a teenager working in the vehicle wash bay. Mike was the President of A&M Express, a fully owned subsidiary of Heartland Express, from 1998 until 2001. Michael was named Vice-President of Regional Operations in 2001 and President of the Company in 2006. Mike graduated from Luther College with a BA in Business Administration.
Gerdin Family Investments LP is co-founded by the Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust, Mr. Gerdin, Mrs. Durr, and Mrs. Janssen. Mrs. Durr, Mrs. Janssen, and Mrs. Gerdin are co-trustees of the Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust.
Michael Sullivan is the Company’s, Independent Director. Mr. Sullivan resigned in 2015 after over two decades as General Manager of Kenworth Mid-Iowa. He now works as a CPA, offering general accounting services to his customers. Mr. Sullivan was also Treasurer of the IMTA Allied Division for over twenty years and was heavily engaged with the IMTA and its legislative actions in Iowa and Washington, D.C. Mr. Sullivan got his B.S. in Accounting from Iowa State University in 1974 and his CPA qualification in 1976. Mr. Sullivan is also a member of the Iowa Society of CPAs and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Opinion: Trucking is down. It will come back. The trick is, of course, when. The most likely culprit is the decline in freight volumes to a slowdown in durable goods and housing. Patient investors might do well in this name.
Name: Willie CW Chiang
Position: Chairman & CEO
Transaction Date: 2023-05-08 Shares Bought: 75,000 Average Price Paid: $13.25 Cost: $993,525
Company: Plains GP Holdings LP (PAGP)
Plains G.P. Holdings, L.P. is a publicly listed Delaware limited partnership that has decided to be treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes in the United States. PAA’s business strategy combines large-scale supply aggregation with ownership and management of vital midstream infrastructure assets linking major producing areas to key demand centers and export ports. PAA’s business is built on the core premise that hydrocarbons are critical to the stability and enhancement of human quality of life and will continue to play a significant long-term role in the global economy. The organization believes that midstream energy infrastructure is vital to preserving and growing modern-day living standards because it connects energy supply and demand.
Mr. Chiang has been a director of PAA GP Holdings LLC since February 2017 and has served as Chairman of the Board since January 2020. Furthermore, Mr. Chiang has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer since October 2018 and previously as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Chiang joined Plains in 2015 after serving as Executive Vice President, Operations at Occidental Petroleum Corporation from 2012 to 2015. He was a director of DCP Midstream and Chevron Phillips Chemical. Mr. Chiang graduated from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. He went on to finish the Advanced Management Programme at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
Opinion: I completely agree with the mission statement above, but I prefer larger ET or EPD.
Name: Daniel D. Burton
Position: Chief Executive Officer
Transaction Date: 2023-05-12 Shares Bought: 49,050 Average Price Paid: $10.19 Cost: $499,594
Company: Health Catalyst Inc. (HCAT)
Health Catalyst Inc is the leading data and analytics technology and service supplier to the healthcare industry. A cloud-based data platform, analytics tools, and professional services knowledge make up the Company Solution. Customers, who are primary healthcare providers, use the Solution to manage their data, gain analytical insights to run their businesses, and create quantifiable improvements in the areas of operations, finances, and clinical outcomes. All healthcare choices in the future, according to the company, will be based on data. By using the Health Catalyst Flywheel, also known as the Flywheel, the company achieves its goals with each client. Delivering on the three Solution components—the data platform, the analytics apps, and the services expertise—that together provide demonstrable gains is part of this approach.
Daniel D. Burton, the founder of HB Ventures LLC, was previously a senior director and head of the strategy group at Micron Technology, Inc., an associate consultant at The Boston Consulting Group, Inc., and a managing partner at HB Ventures LLC. A marketing manager and senior strategist at HP, Inc., Mr. Burton earned his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University and his MBA from Harvard University.
Opinion: Anytime someone high up starts talking about their flywheel, I get queasy.
Name: John C Jr Bumgarner
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-05-05 Shares Bought: 200,000 Average Price Paid: $9.36 Cost: $1,872,404
Company: Enviva Inc. (EVA)
Name: Gary L Whitlock
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-05-05 Shares Bought: 26,000 Average Price Paid: $8.82 Cost: $229,320
Company: Enviva Inc. (EVA)
Enviva Inc. is a growth-oriented firm that began as a limited partnership in 2013 and will become a corporation on December 31, 2021. The firm develops, builds, acquires, and operates fully contractual wood pellet manufacturing facilities. It aggregates a natural resource, wood fiber, and processes it into dry, densified, homogenous pellets that can be efficiently stored and shipped throughout the globe. The company primarily sells wood pellets through long-term, take-or-pay off-take contracts with creditworthy customers in the United Kingdom, the European Union, and Japan, who use the pellets to generate power and heat to accelerate the energy transition away from conventional energy sources.
Mr. Bumgarner has been a member of the Board of Directors since April 2015. Mr. Bumgarner has been involved in private investing since November 2002, and he presently works with a family-owned, multi-faceted real estate firm. From May 2001 until November 2002, Mr. Bumgarner was Co-Chief Operating Officer and President of Strategic Investments for Williams Communications Group, Inc., a high-technology firm. Mr. Bumgarner joined The Williams Companies, Inc. in 1977 and previously worked as Senior Vice President of Williams Companies Corporate Development and Planning, President of Williams International Company, and President of Williams Real Estate Company before joining Williams Communications Group, Inc. Mr. Bumgarner graduated from the University of Kansas with a B.S. and an M.B.A. from Stanford University.
Mr. Whitlock has been a member of the Board of Directors since April 2016. From September 2002 through April 2015, Mr. Whitlock was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. He worked as Special Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer of CenterPoint from April 2015 till his resignation on October 1, 2015. From 1998 until 2001, Mr. Whitlock was Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Dow AgroSciences LLC, a division of The Dow Chemical Company. He started his career with Dow in 1972, where he held various financial leadership roles in the United States and worldwide. Mr. Whitlock is a Certified Public Accountant who graduated from Sam Houston State University in 1972 with a BBA in accounting.
Opinion: This always looked like a viable but lousy business. I should have shorted it, but I didn’t. Too late now. At some point, most everything could be a buy. There goes the 42% dividend. I would be hard-pressed to find a better example of the hazards of buying yield.
Name: Ryan Levenson
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-05-10 Shares Bought: 132,000 Average Price Paid: $6.09 Cost: $804,005
Company: Great Lakes Dredge & Dock CORP. (GLDD)
The Great Lakes are the biggest dredging service provider in the United States and have a long history of working on important international projects. Additionally, the firm is actively extending its core operations into the rapidly growing offshore wind energy sector. As Lydon & Drews Partnership, the business was established in 1890 and completed its first project in Chicago, Illinois. After changing its name to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company in 1905, the company worked on various landfill and marine building projects along the Great Lakes and Chicago’s lakefront. Since its inception, the Great Lakes have taken the lead in the construction and upkeep of the country’s navigation system, the defense of coastlines, the restoration of delicate ecosystems, and the development of vital aquatic infrastructure.
Ryan Levenson is the Principal and Portfolio Manager of Privet Fund Management, LLC. Currently, Mr. Levenson has positions on the boards of directors of Cicero, Inc., Hardinge, Inc., Frequency Electronics, Inc., and Inc. Before this, Mr. Levenson served as a director of Material Sciences Corp. from May 2013 until its sale in March 2014, and as a director and member of the Compensation, Organisation, and Corporate Governance Committee of RELM Wireless, Inc. Mr. Levenson worked as the Vice President of Business Development at MSI, a privately owned distributor of building goods and provider of construction services, from 2003 to 2006 before starting Privet Fund Management LLC in February 2007.
Opinion: Long-range restoring manufacturing to North America might make GLDD a growth company but the Jones Act keeps shipping on U.S. vessels five times the cost. There are easier ways to play this theme.
Name: Jamie Elizabeth Haenggi
Position: Exec. Vice President, Solar
Transaction Date: 2023-05-05 Shares Bought: 100,000 Average Price Paid: $5.79 Cost: $579,000
Company: ADT Inc. (ADT)
Name: DeLu Jackson
Position: EVP, Chief Marketing Officer
Transaction Date: 2023-05-05 Shares Bought: 8,650 Average Price Paid: $5.76 Cost: $49,824
Company: ADT Inc. (ADT)
Name: Donald M. Young
Position: EVP & COO
Transaction Date: 2023-05-04 Shares Bought: 50,000 Average Price Paid: $5.15 Cost: $257,500
Company: ADT Inc. (ADT)
Name: James David DeVries
Position: President & CEO
Transaction Date: 2023-05-04 Shares Bought: 50,000 Average Price Paid: $4.96 Cost: $248,000
Company: ADT Inc. (ADT)
ADT Inc. is a prominent supplier of security, interactive, and smart home solutions to residential, small business, and commercial clients in the United States. Since purchasing ADT Solar in December 2021, the firm has supplied residential solar and energy storage solutions. The company aims to enable individuals to secure and connect what matters most by providing safe, smart, and sustainable solutions via innovative offers, unrivaled protection, and a premium experience because everyone deserves to feel protected. The firm mainly does business under the ADT brand, which the company believes is a critical competitive advantage and contributor to success owing to the significance clients place on reputation and trust when acquiring goods and services.
Jamie Elizabeth Haenggi is an Enphase Energy, Inc. board member and ADT, Inc. EVP & Chief Operating Officer-Solar Division. She previously held the positions of Director-International Division at National Guardian Security Services, Inc., Chief Marketing Officer & VP-Customer Experience at Vonage, Inc., Chief Customer Experience Officer at Protection One, Inc., Chief Customer Officer & Senior Vice President at The ADT Security Corp., Head-Marketing & Acquisition at Holmes Protection Group, Inc., SVP, Chief Marketing & Customer Experience Officer at Protection One Alarm Monitoring, Inc., Chief Marketing & Customer Experience Officer at Protection One Alarm Monitoring, Inc. Ms. Haenggi earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota.
DeLu Jackson is the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of ADT and a member of the Executive Leadership Team. He uses his 20+ years of marketing and brand leadership with some of the world’s most recognizable businesses to drive ADT’s transformation. Before joining ADT in 2021, he worked at Conagra Brands as Vice President, Precision Marketing, where he was in charge of integrated marketing, e-commerce, brand strategy, and advertising. DeLu has held executive positions for local and foreign companies, including Kellogg Company, McDonald’s, Audi, Nissan, and Subaru. DeLu has a Master of Business Administration from NYU Stern and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics from Princeton University.
Donald Young is the Vice President of the Monitoring Association, the Chief Information Officer and EVP-Field Operations of ADT, Inc., and the Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President of The ADT Security Corp. He previously worked as the Chief Operating and Information Officer of Protection One, Inc., the Chief Operating and Information Officer of Protection One Alarm Monitoring, Inc., the Chief Information Officer of Prime Security Services Borrower LLC, the Chief Information Officer of Stanley Convergent Security Solutions, Inc., and the Operations Manager of SecurityLink.
James DeVries is President and CEO of ADT and joined the company in 2016 as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Before joining ADT, he was Executive Vice President of Operations at Allstate Insurance Company and Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, responsible for real estate and administration, human resources, and procurement. He has served on the boards of the Chicago Human Resources Management Association, the Chicago Public Library Foundation, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Iowa. Jim has a bachelor’s degree from Trinity International University, a master’s degree from Loyola University, and a Master of Business Administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Opinion: With so many public and private adept security players entering the market, I have no idea what these directors and officers see. Given the enormous debt load, I would avoid or sell short on this bounce.
Name: Anthony Noto
Position: Chief Executive Officer
Transaction Date: 2023-05-05 Shares Bought: 30,000 Average Price Paid: $5.12 Cost: $153,513
Company: SoFi Technologies Inc. (SOFI)
SoFi Technologies Inc. is a one-stop shop for financial services that is focused on its members. Its Lending and Financial Services products allow members to borrow, save, spend, invest, and protect their money. Customers are referred to as “members” by the firm. The objective of the firm is to assist members in achieving financial independence to fulfill their dreams. The company started up in 2011 and has made a set of financial solutions that can only be done quickly, easily, and with a wide range of options on an integrated digital platform. Everything the firm does now is oriented around assisting members in “Getting Your Money Right,” and the company strives to develop and create methods for members to attain this objective.
Anthony is the CEO of SoFi and a board member of the company. Before joining SoFi, he served as the company’s chief operational officer since November 2016 and its chief financial officer since July 2014. Before joining Twitter, Anthony worked at Goldman Sachs for over four years as the co-head of global TMT investment banking. He started working at Goldman Sachs in 1999 and was in charge of research on communications media and the Internet until 2004, when he was made a partner. Anthony spent almost three years as the National Football League’s chief financial officer before returning to Goldman.
Opinion: Continuing buying by CEO Noto and a new analyst getting on the SOFI train. Truist analyst Andrew Jeffrey initiated coverage of SoFi Technologies with a Buy rating and $8 price target. He was on CNBC singing its praise as a new kind of always-on digital bank, even a beneficiary of the regional bank crisis. Considering SOFI is scooping up the cream of the crop next generation, an analyst recommending SOFI working at one of those in-crisis regional banks was particularly interesting to me.
Name: Omar Asali
Position: CEO and Executive Chairman
Transaction Date: 2023-05-09 Shares Bought: 80,000 Average Price Paid: $3.01 Cost: $240,797
Company: Ranpak Holdings Corp. (PACK)
Name: Alicia M. Tranen
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-05-09 Shares Bought: 36,500 Average Price Paid: $2.91 Cost: $106,157
Company: Ranpak Holdings Corp. (PACK)
Ranpak is a global leader in providing ecologically friendly, system-based product protection and end-of-line automation solutions for e-commerce and industrial supply chains. Since its foundation in 1972, the firm has provided high-quality protective packaging while being committed to environmental sustainability. The firm offers its goods to end customers largely via a distributor network and directly to a small group of end users. Ranpak Holdings Corp. was established in 1972 and is based in Concord Township, Ohio.
Mr. Omar M. Asali is the creator of One Madison Group as well as the Chairman and CEO of Ranpak Holdings Corp since August 2019. Omar now serves on the boards of Plenty, Carbone Fine Foods, and Pickle Robot, in addition to Ranpak. Omar has over two decades of expertise as an operator, director, and investor with creative, high-growth public and private firms over numerous market cycles. Omar was formerly the Chief Executive Officer, President, and a member of the Board of Directors of HRG Group, where he was in charge of day-to-day operations, including M&A and overall corporate strategy. Omar was also the Vice Chairman of Spectrum Brands Holdings and a member of the Fidelity & Guaranty Life Board of Directors.
Alicia M. Tranen founded Boulevard Capital Management LLC. Ms. Tranen is now a Strategic Advisor at 3L Capital LLC. She is also a member of the Ranpak Holdings Corp. board of directors since March 2019. She has previously held the positions of Portfolio Manager at Boulevard Capital Management LLC, Principal at RRE Advisors LLC, Research Analyst at Fidelity Management & Research Co. LLC, Principal at Sigma Capital Management LLC, and Senior Analyst at Cantillon Capital Management LLC. She has an MBA from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University.
Opinion: Softening e-commerce and retail trends don’t bode well, but almost every company has a price at which you can make money buying shares. I just don’t know what that one is, but insiders buying is usually a sign that the price has arrived. These are relatively small buys, on the low end of what we consider meaningful.
Name: Robert W Pittman
Position: Chairman and CEO
Transaction Date: 2023-05-05 Shares Bought: 88,028 Average Price Paid: $2.88 Cost: $253,441
Company: iHeartMedia Inc. (IHRT)
iHeartMedia, Inc. is a global media and entertainment corporation. The business is divided into three divisions: Multiplatform Group, Digital Audio Group, and Audio & Media Services Group. The Multiplatform Group section runs Premiere Networks, a nationwide radio network that creates, distributes, or represents syndicated radio programs and services to radio station affiliates, as well as broadcast radio stations, sponsorship, and lives and virtual events. It also provides real-time traffic flow, incident information, weather, sports, and news updates. Podcasting, digital sites, newsletters, digital services, and programs are offered by the Digital Audio Group sector, as is iHeartRadio, a mobile app and web-based service for radio stations, digital-only stations, bespoke artist stations, and podcasts. The Audio and Media Services Group sector is involved in media representation.
Robert Pittman is the Chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia, Inc., America’s audio business. He has been Chairman and CEO since 2011 and Chairman since 2013. He is a co-founder and programmer who headed the team that founded MTV. He has been CEO of MTV Networks, AOL Networks, Six Flags Theme Parks, Quantum Media, Century 21 Real Estate, and Time Warner Enterprises. He became the Chief Operational Officer of America Online, Inc., and later of AOL Time Warner; a founding member of the New York-based Pilot Group investment company; and a co-founder of Casa Dragones tequila. Pittman started his audio career at 15 as an on-air radio announcer in his home state of Mississippi. He has been inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame and the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame.
Opinion: Pittman has been a disaster. You can follow him around shorting the companies he leads.
Name: John B Wood
Position: Chairman and CEO
Transaction Date: 2023-05-11 Shares Bought: 400,000 Average Price Paid: $2.27 Cost: $906,000
Company: Telos Corp. (TLS)
Name: Fredrick Schaufeld
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-05-11 Shares Bought: 181,498 Average Price Paid: $2.20 Cost: $399,296
Company: Telos Corp. (TLS)
The Telos Corporation provides cutting-edge, software-based security solutions that empower and shield the most security-conscious enterprises in the world against constantly developing sophisticated and widespread attacks. Customers are given the tools they need to expand their markets and better serve their stakeholders. They successfully defend their country or business thanks to the range of security products, services, and knowledge. For the clients to pursue their business objectives and carry out their global missions with confidence in their security and privacy, protect their people, information, and digital assets. The company may also use net proceeds to buy complementary companies, goods, services, or technological advancements. Numerous variables will affect how much and when the net proceeds are used.
Wood serves as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Telos Corporation, a leading provider of continuous security solutions and services to the world’s most security-conscious organizations and businesses. In these roles, he supervises the company’s assistance with cyber, cloud, and enterprise security for companies and governmental organizations throughout the globe. Since joining the company in 1992, John has been a leader in bridging the public and private sectors to solve cybersecurity issues. As CEO, John has increased the company’s clientele to include business corporations, federal government military, civilian, intelligence organizations, and international allies’ governments. Additionally, he has expanded the company’s product portfolio. John has guided Telos services to become the official database and messaging system for the US Intelligence Community and the Department of Defence.
Fredrick D. Schaufeld is a partner in and managing director of SWaN & Legend Venture Partners. In addition to the Capital One Arena, the Washington Capitals, the Wizards, and the Mystics Capital City Go-Go, Mr. Schaufeld is a partner in Monumental Sports and Entertainment. He is a co-owner of the Washington Nationals, Team Liquid, Harpers Ferry’s Hill Top House Hotel, and the Professional Fighters League. Mr. Schaufeld also owns American Bike Ride, the parent business of the DC Bike Ride. Mr. Schaufeld lives in Virginia with his wife, Karen. They participate actively in organizations that support early childhood development, the arts, peace, the environment, literacy, and health. He chairs the Inova Health System Foundation and is on the board of the Wolf Trap Foundation.
Opinion: I don’t think so.
Name: Steven A Webster
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-05-09 Shares Bought: 50,000 Average Price Paid: $30.97 Cost: $1,548,280
Company: Callon Petroleum Co. (CPE)
Callon Petroleum Company has been involved in exploring, developing, purchasing, and producing oil and natural gas resources since 1950. An independent oil and gas firm, Collan is committed to purchasing, exploring, and developing top-tier properties in South and West Texas’ most productive oil basins. The Midland and Delaware Basins, which are a component of the greater Permian Basin in West Texas and the Eagle Ford in South Texas, are the main horizontal development areas for the company’s operations. The main activities in the Permian are characterized by a high-return, oil-weighted drilling inventory with various potential horizontal development intervals, supported by an established, cash flow-generating enterprise in the Eagle Ford.
Fredrick D. Schaufeld is a partner in and managing director of SWaN & Legend Venture Partners. In addition to the Capital One Arena, the Washington Capitals, the Wizards, and the Mystics Capital City Go-Go, Mr. Schaufeld is a partner in Monumental Sports and Entertainment. He is a co-owner of the Washington Nationals, Team Liquid, Harpers Ferry’s Hill Top House Hotel, and the Professional Fighters League. Mr. Schaufeld also owns American Bike Ride, the parent business of the DC Bike Ride. Mr. Schaufeld lives in Virginia with his wife, Karen. They participate actively in organizations that support early childhood development, the arts, peace, the environment, literacy, and health. He chairs the Inova Health System Foundation and is on the board of the Wolf Trap Foundation.
Opinion: This chart looks like many of its peers. I don’t know what it takes for this group to rally as financial results remain good, but multiples continue to contract on the expectation of a slumping economy. The reality is that petroleum consumption is not elastic, and the world without fossil fuels is a bigger pipedream than the metaverse.
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Insiders sell the stock for many reasons, but they generally buy for just one – to make money. You’ve always heard the best information is inside information. Everyone who has any experience at in the stock market pays close attention to what insiders are doing. After all, who knows a business better than the people running it? Officers, directors, and 10% owners are required to inform the public through a Form 4 Filing any transaction, buy, sell, exercise, or any other within 48 hours of doing so. This info is available for free from the SEC’s Web site, Edgar, although we subscribe to SECForm4 as they provide a way to manage and make sense of the vast realms of data. I’ve tried a lot of vendors. SECForm4 is one of the smaller ones, but I like supporting Frank. He is not arrogant. He’s helpful and has great prices. He also trades on his own data, so I like people that eat what they kill.
The bar is different from selling because the natural state of management is to be a seller. This is because most companies provide significant amounts of management compensation packages as stock and options. Therefore, with selling, we analyze unusual patterns, such as insiders selling 25 percent or more of their holdings or multiple insiders selling near 52-week lows. Another red flag is large planned sale programs that start without warning. Unfortunately, the public information disclosure requirements about these programs, referred to as Rule 10b5-1, are horrendously poor. Also, planned sales that pop up out of nowhere are basically sales and are seeking cover under this corporate welfare loophole. I also generally ignore 10 percent shareholders as they tend to be OPM (other people’s money) and perhaps not the smart money on which we are trying to read the tea leaves. I say generally because some 10% shareholders are great investors. Think Warren Buffett, Icahn, and others
Of course, insiders can also be wrong about their Company’s prospects. Don’t let anyone fool you into believing they never make mistakes. Do your own analysis. They can easily be wrong, and in many cases, maybe most cases have no more idea what the future may hold than you or me. In short, you can lose money following them. We have, and we curse aloud; what were they thinking!
We like Fly on the Wall for keeping up with what events might be happening, analysts’ comments, and whatever else could be moving the stock. Dow Jones news service is an essential tool but many services pick up their feed like they do Bloomberg. For quick financial analysis, it’s hard to beat Old School Value.
A big callout to my assistant Ambreen who sets up this conversation by listing the notable buys that I’ve identified. She probes the 10k for a reasonable description of the business. I’ve found that to be the most accurate and succinct place to find out what a business actually does. The websites and marketing material are just that, poorly disguised marketing material for many. I should know that better than most if you at my past involvement in building the 1st websites for many Fortune 500 companies.
No one tracks and understands insider behavior better than us. We’ve been doing it religiously since 2001 when I quit being an insider myself and devoted myself full-time to managing my personal investments. Needless to say, past good fortune is no guarantee of future success. We may own positions, long or short, in any of these names and are under no obligation to disclose that.
This blog is solely for educational purposes and the author’s own amusement. Don’t rely on this blog. Think of the blog as part of my personal investment journal that I am willing to share with the DIY investor. We welcome your comments on our analysis, but please do your own research. Investing with The Insiders Fund is for qualified investors and by Prospectus only. Nothing herein should be construed otherwise. THE INSIDERS FUND prefers to invest in companies at or near prices that management has been willing to invest significant amounts of their own money in, but we have no requirement to do so. We also invest in many companies in anticipation of future insider buying or with the expectation that there is none at all.
You can be an insider, too– by clicking here
Prosperous Trading,
