While some stocks like the Magnificent Seven have had a phenomenal comeback year, many, many companies are depressed in value. We have no shortage of compelling investment ideas, but getting people to invest when values are low is the opposite of human nature. Paying particular attention to significant insider buying is one way to force that discipline on yourself. When not painting the tape or participating in required corporate ownership requirements, insiders are historically value buyers. This week, we highlight what we think are notable buys. Although we pay attention to selling, we don’t write about this far more nuanced behavior.
Name: John F Malloy
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-12-11 Shares Bought: 797 Average Price Paid: $313.50 Cost: $249,860
Company: Hubbell Inc (HUBB)
Hubbell was formed as a sole proprietorship in 1888 and incorporated in Connecticut in 1905. Hubbell, a world-class provider of electrical and utility solutions with more than 75 brands used throughout the world, has been recognized for its innovation, quality, and deep commitment to servicing their clients for over 130 years. The company provides utilities and electrical solutions that allow their customers to operate vital infrastructure dependably and efficiently, and we empower and energize communities through innovative energy infrastructure solutions. In front of the meter, on the outskirts of the meter, and behind the meter. Utility transport and distribution of energy to clients in front of the meter. The Edge connects utilities and owner/operators, allowing energy and data to flow back and forth. Behind the Metre is where building owners and operators consume energy.
John F. Malloy, Ph.D., has been a Lehigh Valley Health Network Board of Trustees member since 2009. He is the executive chairman of Victaulic, the world’s leading provider of mechanical pipeline joining solutions. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Boston College and a Ph.D. in economics from Syracuse University. Mr. Malloy serves on the boards of Hollingsworth & Vose, a global leader in paper filters, Follett Corporation, a prominent producer of ice machines, The Valley Youth House, The Lehigh Valley Industrial Partnership, and DeSales University. He and his wife, Jane, live in Bethlehem and have two children.
Opinion: Unlike much of the “magnificent seven names powering the market, HUBB is a mid market $17B Cap company that is making new lifetime highs. Electricity is the most durable growth market on the planet. There is an ever increasing global demand regardless of the many ways to produce it.
Name: Vincenzo J Vena
Position: Chief Executive Officer
Transaction Date: 2023-11-21 Shares Bought: 4,500 Average Price Paid: $222.00 Cost: $999,007
Company: Union Pacific Corp (UNP)
Union Pacific Railroad Company is the main operating subsidiary of Union Pacific Corporation. Union Pacific Railroad Company, one of America’s most recognizable enterprises, connects 23 states in the western two-thirds of the country by rail, serving as a crucial link in the worldwide supply chain. The Railroad’s diverse business mix includes Bulk, Industrial, and Premium. Union Pacific serves many of the fastest-growing population centers in the United States, operates from all major West Coast and Gulf Coast ports to Eastern gateways, connects with Canada’s rail networks, and is the only Railroad that serves all six main Mexico gateways. Union Pacific Corporation was founded in Utah in 1969 and is headquartered at 1400 Douglas Street, Omaha, NE 68179. Union Pacific Corporation’s common stock is traded under the symbol “UNP” on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
Vena supervised a team that produced efficiency savings and delivered the best service product in the company’s history as Union Pacific’s chief operating officer from 2019 to 2020. He returned to Union Pacific as CEO in August 2023 after serving as senior advisor to the chairman in 2021. Before joining Union Pacific, Vena worked for Canadian National Railway, where he learned from renowned executives. Vena has firsthand knowledge of railroading, having started his career as a CN laborer in the maintenance of way before progressing to brakeman, conductor, locomotive engineer, trainmaster, and supervisor. He had increasingly responsible roles, including senior management positions in operations, marketing, and sales across CN’s eastern, western, and southern regions in the United States. Vena rose through the ranks at CN to become executive vice president and chief operating officer. Vena has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alberta and a postgraduate Business degree from Athabasca University.
Opinion: UNP could be a major beneficiary of nearshoring in Mexico from China. Railroads are the cheapest cost per mile transportation in the U.S. New CEO Venza is expected to make operational efficiencies but one of the biggest transport markets, coal, is in secular decline.
Name: Nicole S Arnaboldi
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-12-08 Shares Bought: 8,500 Average Price Paid: $59.59 Cost: $506,515
Company: Nextera Energy Inc (NEE)
Nextera Energy is a pioneer in the renewable energy business and one of North America’s major electric power and energy infrastructure corporations. NEE’s two primary subsidiaries are FPL and NEER. FPL is Florida’s largest electric utility and one of the largest in the United States. FPL’s strategy prioritizes investment in generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure to deliver on its value promise of low customer bills, high reliability, great customer service, and long-term energy solutions. NEER is the world’s largest producer of wind and solar energy and a world leader in battery storage. The strategic focus of NEER is on developing, constructing, and managing long-term contractual assets in the United States and Canada, notably sustainable energy solutions such as renewable generating facilities, battery storage projects, and electric transmission lines.
Ms. Arnaboldi has been a partner at Oak Hill Capital Management since 2021. From 2000 to 2019, she was vice chairman of Credit Suisse Asset Management and managing director of Credit Suisse Securities Corp. Before joining Credit Suisse, Ms. Arnaboldi worked as a managing director at its predecessor, Donaldson Lufkin, and Jenrette (DLJ), first in the firm’s venture capital division from 1985 to 1992, and then in its private equity group, where she became a managing director in 1996. Ms. Arnaboldi has been a director of Manulife Financial Corporation since 2020. Ms. Arnaboldi has been a director of NextEra Energy since October 2022.
Opinion: Utility stocks were some of the most immediate and biggest beneficiaries of the Fed’s ‘Pivot’ on Wednesday. Numerous insider purchases in this name have not convinced shareholders to buy into the future of heavily invested renewable and below average dividend yield.
Name: Warren E Buffett / Berkshire Hathaway Inc
Position: 10% Owner
Transaction Date: 2023-12-11 Shares Bought: 10,482,162 Average Price Paid: $56.16 Cost: $588,674,276
Company: Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY)
Occidental’s core businesses are divided into three reporting segments: oil and gas, chemical and midstream, and marketing. The oil and gas division explores, produces, and manufactures oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. The chemical industry is mostly in charge of producing and marketing basic chemicals and vinyl. The midstream and marketing sector purchases, sells, gathers, processes, transports, and stores petroleum, natural gas, CO2, and electricity. It also extends its transportation and storage capacity and invests in companies like WES. Human Resources manages Occidental’s human capital resources and objectives with the help of business leaders. The Board’s Sustainability and Shareholder Engagement Committee and the Board’s Environmental, Health, and Safety Committee.
Warren Edward Buffett is an American businessman and philanthropist born in Omaha, Nebraska, on August 30, 1930. He is widely considered the most successful investor of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Buffett, often known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” was the son of Howard Homan Buffett, a Nebraska politician. After receiving his B.S. from the University of Nebraska in 1950, he attended the Columbia University School of Management, where he studied under Benjamin Graham. Buffett relocated to Omaha in 1956 and 1965 purchased a controlling share in textile manufacturer Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which he utilized as his primary investment vehicle.
Opinion: The first statement from Warren Buffett after his lifelong partner, Charlie Munger, died was a massive $500 million dollar open market purchase of Occidental stock. Classic Buffett- buying on the way down. Oil stocks have been the worst performers for the month. We normally don’t report on 10% owners because it’s usually other people’s money, but it’s the Oracle of Omaha.
Name: Timothy E. Parker
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-12-12 Shares Bought: 5,000 Average Price Paid: $52.13 Cost: $260,650
Company: Matador Resources Co (MTDR)
Matador Resources Co is an independent energy company that explores, develops, produces, and acquires oil and natural gas resources in the United States, focusing on oil and natural gas shale and other unconventional areas. The current operations are principally concentrated on the oil and liquids-rich Wolfcamp and Bone Spring plays of the Delaware Basin in Southeast New Mexico and West Texas. The company also works in the Eagle Ford shale play in South Texas and the Haynesville and Cotton Valley play in Northwest Louisiana. In addition, they perform midstream activities supporting our exploration, development, and production operations. They also provide natural gas processing, oil transportation, oil, natural gas, produced water gathering, and produced water disposal services to third parties. They are a Texas corporation created in July 2003 by Joseph Wm. Foran, Chairman and CEO.
Mr. Parker was appointed to the Board in 2018, is the lead independent director, and chairs the Capital Markets and Finance Committee. Mr. Parker works as a Brightworks Wealth Management, LLC research contractor. Mr. Parker retired in 2017 from T. Rowe Price & Associates as Portfolio Manager and Analyst—Natural Resources. Mr. Parker began his career at T. Rowe Price 2001 as an equity analyst before becoming a portfolio manager in 2010. From 2010 to 2013, he oversaw the New Era fund, and from 2013 to 2017, he oversaw the energy and natural resources components of T. Rowe Price’s Small Cap Value, Small Cap Stock, and New Horizons funds. Before joining T. Rowe Price, Mr. Parker worked as an investment banking analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc. Mr. Parker has a Bachelor of Science in Commerce from the University of Virginia and a Master of Business Administration from the Darden School of Graduate Business.
Opinion: More opportunistic oil and gas buying from an astute industry and Wall Street veteran. If I see heavier buying, Matador could be a bite sized morcel.
Name: David A Sachs
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-12-11 Shares Bought: 50,000 Average Price Paid: $51.05 Cost: $2,552,250
Company: Terex Corp (TEX)
Terex Corp was founded in Delaware as Terex U.S.A., Inc. in October 1986. Since then, they’ve changed a lot, accomplished through acquisitions and managing our portfolio of firms by disposing of non-core businesses and products. Terex is now a multinational manufacturer of material processing equipment and aerial work platforms. The company creates, manufactures, and supports construction, maintenance, manufacturing, energy, recycling, minerals, and materials management equipment. Certain Terex products and solutions help customers reduce their environmental impact, such as electric and hybrid offerings that are quiet and emission-free, products that support renewable energy, and products that aid in recovering useful materials from various types of waste. Their products are made in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia, and they are sold all over the world. The company works with customers at every level of the product life cycle, from initial specification to financing to parts and service support.
David A. Sachs, the founder of Ares Management LP, is currently the Chairman of Ares Dynamic Credit Allocation Fund, Inc., and CION Ares Diversified Credit Fund. He is also a Senior Partner at Ares Management Corp., a Portfolio Manager at Capital Markets Group, and a Partner at Ares Management LP, in addition to serving on the boards of nine additional firms. He was a Principal at Onyx Partners, Inc., Executive Vice President at Columbia Savings & Loan Association (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), Investment Manager at Taylor & Co. LLC, Chairman at Ares Multi-Strategy Credit Fund, Inc., and Senior Partner at Ares Real Estate Group in the past. He attended Northwestern University for his undergraduate studies.
Opinion: I guess Mr. Sachs knows a thing or two about investing. It’s a case of buying cheap. The erroneously named Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure act should provide tailwinds even in a depressed commodity market. The stock has popped sharply from his purchase price.
Name: Mark S Peek
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-12-07 Shares Bought: 10,000 Average Price Paid: $46.59 Cost: $465,864
Company: Trimble Inc. (TRMB)
Trimble Inc. is a leading developer of technology solutions that connect office and mobile professionals’ workflows and asset life cycles to deliver a more productive, sustainable future. The company solutions’ entire depth and breadth, focusing on the industries that feed, construct, and move the world, alters how the world works, making it easier for Trimble clients to focus on what matters—getting the job done well. They create at the nexus of the digital and physical worlds, with solutions spanning the world’s basic industries such as building, civil and infrastructure construction, GIS, surveying and mapping, agriculture, natural resources, utilities, transportation, and government. Their mission is to empower clients, which include asset owners, general and specialty contractors, engineers and designers, surveyors, agricultural firms and farmers, energy and utility companies, trucking companies and drivers, and state, federal, and municipal governments.
Mr. Peek is the executive vice president, managing director, and co-head of Workday Ventures, Workday, Inc.’s strategic investment arm. Workday, Inc. is a prominent provider of enterprise cloud services for finance and human resources. He joined Workday as chief financial officer in June 2012 and held that position until April 2016. Mr. Peek also served on the Workday board of directors from December 2011 until June 2012. As president of business operations and chief financial officer, Mr. Peek formerly worked for VMware, Inc., a commercial infrastructure virtualization solutions provider. Mr. Peek was the chief financial officer of VMware, Inc. from April 2007 to January 2011. Mr. Peek served as Amazon.com’s senior vice president and chief accounting officer from 2000 to 2007. Mr. Peek worked at Deloitte for 19 years, the final ten as a partner, before joining Amazon.com. Mr. Peek graduated from Minnesota State University with a B.S. in accounting and international finance.
Opinion: I think I’d sit this one out for a while after the confusing $2B JV arrangement with Agco. Jana Partners has taken a position and is urging the company to avoid more large acquisitions and focus on organic growth instead. Good advice for any company, I suppose.
Name: Graham G. Walmsley
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-12-08 Shares Bought: 100,000 Average Price Paid: $19.83 Cost: $1,982,940
Company: Akero Therapeutics Inc. (AKRO)
Akero Therapies Inc. is a clinical-stage company dedicated to developing transformational therapies for patients suffering from catastrophic metabolic disorders with high unmet medical needs, such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, a condition with no approved medication. NASH is a severe form of NAFLD characterized by inflammation and fibrosis in the liver, which can progress to cirrhosis, liver failure, cancer, and death. EFX, or Efruxifermin, is an analog of fibroblast growth factor 21, or FGF21, an endogenously produced hormone that protects against cellular stress and regulates lipid, carbohydrate, and protein metabolism throughout the body. Based on statistically substantial fibrosis regression and NASH resolution in patients with biopsy-confirmed pre-cirrhotic NASH and consistent outcomes across many clinical studies, the company believes EFX has the potential to be a best-in-class medicine for treating NASH if approved.
Graham Walmsley, M.D., Ph.D., has been a board of directors member since February 2020. Since August 2019, Dr. Walmsley has been a Founding Member and Managing Partner of Logos Global Management, LP, a biotechnology-focused hedge fund. He was a Principal at Versant Ventures, a healthcare-focused venture capital firm, from July 2016 to August 2019. From April to December 2018, Dr. Walmsley was the Head of Business Development at Pipeline Therapeutics Inc. and Jecure Therapeutics, Inc. He is now a director on the board of Akero Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company. Dr. Walmsley graduated with honors from the University of California, Berkeley, with a B.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology in June 2009 and from Stanford University School of Medicine with a Ph.D. and M.D. in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine in June 2016 and June 2018, respectively.
Opinion: Large buys by a knowledgeable and clearly brilliant insider but clearly a dangerous game to play, especially since this is a hedge fund using other people’s money.
Name: Michael J Gerdin
Position: Chief Executive Officer / 10% Owner
Transaction Date: 2023-12-11 Shares Bought: 82,509 Average Price Paid: $13.92 Cost: $1,148,147
Company: Heartland Express Inc (HTLD)
Heartland Express, Inc. is a Nevada-based holding company that owns all of the stock in the following active legal entities: Heartland Express, Inc. of Iowa, Heartland Express Services, Inc., Heartland Express Maintenance Services, Inc., and Midwest Holding Group, LLC, and Millis Transfer, LLC, and Smith Transport, Inc., Smith Trucking, Inc., and Franklin Logistics, Inc., and Transportation Resources, Inc., and Contract Freighters, Inc. Heartland Express, Inc. of Iowa bought Smith Transport, a freight carrier based in Roaring Spring, Pennsylvania, on May 31, 2022. Heartland Express, Inc. of Iowa bought CFI’s non-dedicated U.S. dry van, temperature-controlled truckload business in Joplin, Missouri, and certain Mexican entity operations in Mexico on August 31, 2022. The company primarily provides asset-based dry van truckload service for major shippers across the United States and cross-border freight and other transportation services through third-party partnerships in Mexico.
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 wholly-owned subsidiary of Heartland Express, from 1998 until 2001. Michael was appointed 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.
Opinion: I promised you I’d do more research on this one. They have steadily buying their stock, and I think it’s the uptick in the cross-Mexican USA border traffic from the great reshoring. I haven’t been able to determine the percentage of their Mexican business but I plan on calling investor relations next week and reading some analyst reports and listening to earnings webcasts. New info from Bing – However, Heartland Express recently acquired Contract Freighters, a truckload carrier with a strong presence in Mexico 1. The acquisition includes CFI Logistica operations in Mexico, which has a network of nearly 200 C-TPAT-certified Mexico carrier partners 1. This acquisition is expected to help Heartland capitalize on the expected long-term freight volume benefits of near-shoring activity by manufacturers 1. https://sl.bing.net/ijeN3BTI9EO
Name: Marshall S III Mccrea
Position: Co-CEO
Transaction Date: 2023-12-12 Shares Bought: 50,000 Average Price Paid: $13.19 Cost: $659,500
Company: Energy Transfer LP (ET)
Energy Transfer LP is a Delaware limited partnership whose common units trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “ET.” Sunoco LP and USAC, both publicly traded master limited partnerships, also have assets in the corporation. Energy Transfer generates cash flow from distributions made by its subsidiaries, which include Sunoco LP and USAC. The amount of cash distributed to us by their subsidiaries is determined by the earnings from their specific business activities and the available cash. The primary financial requirements of Energy Transfer are partner payouts, general and administrative expenses, and debt repayment. After achieving the preceding cash criteria, Energy Transfer pays any remaining funds to its Unitholders every quarter.
Mr. McCrea has been the Co-Chief Executive Officer since January 2021. He is also ET’s Chief Commercial Officer. Mr. McCrea was appointed to the board of directors of Energy Transfer LP in December 2009. Mr. McCrea served as the Energy Transfer family’s Group Chief Operating Officer and Chief Commercial Officer from November 2015 to October 2018. Before that, he was President and Chief Operating Officer of Energy Transfer Operating, L.P. from June 2008 to November 2015 and President of midstream from March 2007 to June 2008. He formerly served as Senior Vice President – Commercial Development beginning in January 2004. Mr. McCrea was named President of La Grange Acquisition LP, Energy Transfer’s principal operating company, in March 2005, after serving as Senior Vice President-Business Development and Producer Services since 1997.
Opinion: Good to see someone besides Warren Kelcy buying stock here.
Name: David C. Rockecharlie
Position: Chief Executive Officer
Transaction Date: 2023-12-06 Shares Bought: 20,000 Average Price Paid: $11.32 Cost: $226,400
Company: Crescent Energy Co (CRGY)
Crescent Energy Co. is a highly capitalized independent energy corporation in the United States with a portfolio of low-decline assets in established sites throughout the lower 48 states that produce significant cash flow underpinned by a steady production base. The company’s core leadership team comprises seasoned investment, financial, and industry experts who have been carrying out the company’s strategy since 2011. The firm strives to achieve exceptional risk-adjusted investment returns and steady cash flows across cycles by employing a unique approach to investing in the oil and gas industry. The company’s approach uses a unique business model that combines an investor viewpoint with considerable operational experience to pursue a cash flow-based investment mandate centered on operated working interests with an active risk management strategy.
David C. Rockecharlie has been the Chief Executive Officer of Crescent Energy Company and a director on Crescent’s Board since December 2021. He was previously the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Crescent’s parent company. Mr. Rockecharlie joined KKR in 2011 and is now a Partner and Head of KKR’s Energy Real Assets unit, as well as the Chairman of the KKR Energy Investment Committee. Before joining KKR, Rockecharlie was co-founder and co-CEO of RPM Energy, LLC, a privately held oil and gas company. Mr. Rockecharlie began his career in energy investment banking at S.G. Warburg and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. Mr. Rockecharlie received an A.B., magna cum laude, from Princeton University.
Opinion: More buying from Rockecharlie. It’s hard to see how you miss on this name with the KKR lineage and depressed stock price.
Name: John Douglas Field
Position: Chief EV, Digital & Design Officer
Transaction Date: 2023-12-08 Shares Bought: 182,000 Average Price Paid: $11.05 Cost: $2,010,590
Company: Ford Motor Co (F)
Ford Motor Company was founded in Delaware in 1919. The company purchased the assets of a Michigan corporation, Ford Motor Corporation, founded in 1903 to manufacture and sell automobiles developed and engineered by Henry Ford. They are a global corporation headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan. Ford creates and delivers innovative, must-have Ford trucks, sport utility vehicles, commercial vans and sedans, Lincoln luxury vehicles, and linked services. With the change in segments effective January 1, 2023, the Company does so through three customer-centered business segments: Ford Blue, which engineers iconic gas-powered and hybrid vehicles; Ford Model E, which invents breakthrough electric vehicles along with embedded software that defines always-on digital experiences for all customers; and Ford Pro, which helps commercial customers transform and expand their businesses with vehicles and services tailored to their needs.
John Douglas Field leads the company’s vehicle and digital design teams and drives innovation at startup speed in developing electric vehicles and producing digital platforms and software for Ford’s full product lineup. Field’s team provides smooth, enjoyable, and always-on experiences, including infotainment, navigation, driver-assist technologies, linked services, and vehicle cybersecurity. Field came to Ford from Apple, where he was vice president of Special Projects. Before that, he was senior vice president of Engineering at Tesla, overseeing the Model 3’s development. He was in charge of developing Apple’s Mac hardware at the time. He was Segway’s first employee and vice president of Design and Engineering. From 1987 to 1993, Field worked as a development engineer for Ford. Purdue University awarded Field a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.
Opinion: Large buy by a Ford insider by someone not named Ford. Very reassuring, and I’d take the plunge. With union strikes behind them and interest rates likely coming down, it may be time for the auto giant to bounce.
Name: Paul L Whiting
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-12-14 Shares Bought: 40,871 Average Price Paid: $7.34 Cost: $299,993
Company: Heritage Insurance Holdings Inc. (HRTG)
Name: Ernie J Garateix
Position: Chief Executive Officer
Transaction Date: 2023-12-14 Shares Bought: 27,247 Average Price Paid: $7.34 Cost: $199,993
Company: Heritage Insurance Holdings Inc. (HRTG)
Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc. is a super-regional property and casualty insurance holding company that principally provides personal and commercial home insurance through its insurance company subsidiaries. The company is vertically integrated and controls or manages many of the insurance industry’s underwriting, customer service, actuarial analysis, distribution, and claims processing and adjustment. They are led by a highly skilled and varied management team with extensive industry ties and significant residential property insurance business competence. The financial strength ratings are critical in determining their competitive position and can significantly impact their capacity to write policies.
Mr. Whiting has been a member of the Board since March 2023. Mr. Whiting formerly served on the boards of directors of Sykes Enterprises, Inc. from December 2003 to May 2019 and Teco Energy, Inc. from February 2004 to July 2016. Mr. Whiting has served as President of Seabreeze Holdings, Inc., a privately held investment firm, since 1997. Mr. Whiting formerly served as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Financial Officer of Spalding & Evenflo Companies, Inc. Mr. Whiting now serves on the boards of The Bank of Tampa and The Tampa Bay Banking Company. Mr. Whiting also serves on the boards of several civic organizations, including the Academy Prep Foundation and Academy Prep Centres in the Florida cities of Lakeland, St. Petersburg, and Tampa, which are full-scholarship, private college preparatory middle schools for low-income children.
Mr. Garateix has been the Chief Executive Officer of Heritage since 2020, after serving as Chief Operating Officer since 2014 and Executive Vice President since 2012. He offers Heritage a plethora of expertise and experience from his long career in the insurance sector, including claims, underwriting, operations, systems analysis, and operations. Mr. Garateix began his career at United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company, where he worked in the claims department and oversaw the call center. From 2000 to 2007, he held the position of Associate Vice President of Information Technology at FCCI Insurance Group in Sarasota, Florida, after receiving his Master of Business Administration in Management Information Technology from the University of Tampa. He coordinated several software deployments and aided in various multi-state initiatives while at FCCI. Before joining Heritage, Mr. Garateix was Vice President of Operations at American Integrity Insurance Group, in charge of the carrier’s backroom operations.
Opinion: I don’t know enough about this to have an opinion, and I doubt If I will look further into it but never say never.
Follow us on Twitter for real-time insider buying alerts at https://twitter.com/theinsidersfund
You can be an insider, too– by clicking here
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 with any stock market experience 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 of 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, we analyze unusual patterns with selling, 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 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.
This blog is solely for educational purposes and the author’s own amusement. Think of the blog as part of my personal investment journal that I am willing to share with the DIY investor. There are also many parts that I am not willing to share if I think it could influence trading action or be detrimental to the Fund’s partners. We could be long, short, or have no position at all in any of the stocks mentioned and express no written or implied obligation to disclose any of that.
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,
