Insider Weekends – July 16, 2010

  • July 17, 2010

Welcome to the sixth edition of Insider Weekends. Insider buying fell to its lowest level since we started collecting this information in the last week of April. Insiders purchased just $6.45 million of their stock last week while selling picked up pace with insiders selling $316.4 million worth of stock. We removed a very large $100 million transaction both on the buy side and the sell side for movie theater company Regal Entertainment Group (RGC) as it was simply a transfer of stock and not actual insider buying or selling.

Sell/Buy Ratio:

The insider Sell/Buy ratio is calculated by dividing the total insider sales in a given week by total insider buying in that week. The adjusted ratio for last week jumped up to 49.07. In other words, insiders sold almost 49 times as much stock as they purchased. This compares unfavorably with the week prior when the ratio stood at 32.90 and just 2.55 the week before that. We are calculating an adjusted ratio by removing transactions by funds and trying as best as possible only to retain information about insiders and 10% owners who are not funds.

Notable Insider Buys Last Week:

1. Monsanto Company (MON) $56.20

Chairman, President & CEO, Hugh Grant acquired 37,500 shares of this Agricultural Products Company, paying $52.06 per share for a total amount of $1.95 million. EVP and CFO Carl Casale also acquired 30,000 shares, paying $52.09 per share for a total amount of $1.56 million.

Key Statistics:

P/E: 30.46Forward P/E: 18.73Industry P/E: 15.97
P/S: 2.90Price/Book: 2.86EV/EBITDA: 11.95
Market Cap: $30.37 billionAvg. Daily Volume: 9,752,29052 Week Range: $44.61 – $87.28

2. Luby’s Inc. (LUB) $4.91

Chief Operating Officer, Harris J. Pappas acquired 88,134 shares of this Texas based restaurant operator, paying $4.95 per share, for a total amount of $436,263. President & CEO Christopher James Pappas also acquired 88,134 shares, paying $4.95 per share, for a total amount of $436,263. Luby’s recently acquired the assets of Fuddruckers for $61 million in cash after Fuddruckers filed for bankruptcy.

Key Statistics:

P/E: N/AForward P/E: 32.73Industry P/E: 14.86
P/S: 0.49Price/Book: 0.83EV/EBITDA: 288.44
Market Cap: $137.74 millionAvg. Daily Volume: 122,53652 Week Range: $3.25 – $5.03

3. FTI Consulting (FCN) $33.62

President & CEO, Jack B Dunn IV acquired 10,000 shares of this business advisory company, paying $33.19 per share for a total amount of $331,895. Chairman of the Board, Dennis J Shaughnessy also acquired 10,000 shares, paying $32.82 per share for a total amount of $328,168.

Key Statistics:

P/E: 13.88Forward P/E: 11.63Industry P/E: 20.69
P/S: 1.12Price/Book: 1.40EV/EBITDA: 6.45
Market Cap: $1.58 billionAvg. Daily Volume: 953,66152 Week Range: $30.78 – $56.41

4. Agilysys (AGYS) $6.99

Director Andrew R Cueva acquired 33,971 shares of this IT services provider through his fund MAK Capital, paying $7.21 per share for a total amount of $244,994. This is the fourth week Agilysys has made our list.

Key Statistics:

P/E: 45.39Forward P/E: 20.56Industry P/E: 19.46
P/S: 0.27Price/Book: 0.85EV/EBITDA:14.45
Market Cap: $160.32 millionAvg. Daily Volume: 172,55352 Week Range: $4.28 – $12.50

5. A. Schulman (SHLM) $18.04

VP – Global Supply Chain & CPO, Gary A Miller acquired 10,000 shares of this plastics supplier, paying $19.13 per share for a total amount of $191,300.

Key Statistics:

P/E: 17.18Forward P/E: 9.45Industry P/E: 17.28
P/S: 0.42Price/Book: 1.22EV/EBITDA: 7.74
Market Cap: $567.95 millionDaily Volume: 277,30252 Week Range: $16.15 – $27.23

Voluntary Disclosure: I own a long position in Luby’s (LUB).

Notable Insider Sales Last Week:

1. Apollo Group (APOL) $45.57

Vice Chairman of the Board Peter Sterling sold 250,000 shares of this large for-profit education company (Apollo is the parent company of the widely recognized University of Phoenix) for $43.80 per share, for a total amount of $10.95 million.

Key Statistics:

P/E: 11.68Forward P/E: 8.11Industry P/E: 19.67
P/S: 1.39Price/Book: 4.77EV/EBITDA: 4.19
Market Cap: $6.72 billionAvg. Daily Volume: 3,403,74052 Week Range: $41.45 – $76.86

2. Fastenal Company (FAST) $47.66

Director Robert A Kierlin sold 150,000 shares of this industrial & construction supplier for $49.84 per share for a total amount of $7.48 million.

Robert Kierlin was Fastenal’s CEO from 1968 through 2002 and has been the Chairman since incorporation. This sale represents a 2% reduction of his overall position.

Key Statistics:

P/E: 32.42Forward P/E: 21.96Industry P/E: 22.85
P/S: 3.57Price/Book: 5.83EV/EBITDA: 17.45
Market Cap: $7.03 billionAvg. Daily Volume: 1,355,68052 Week Range: $32.71 – $56.65

3. Capital One Financial Corporation (COF) $41.46

President, Financial Services, Sanjiv Yajnik sold 84,951 shares for $45 per share for a total amount of $3.82 million.

Key Statistics:

P/E: 16.45Forward P/E: 9.82Industry P/E: 11.85
P/S: 1.98Price/Book:0.81EV/EBITDA: N/A
Market Cap: $18.93 billionAvg. Daily Volume: 7,151,47052 Week Range: $25.70 – $47.73

4. Guess? Inc. (GES) $32.56

Director, Carlos Alberini sold 113,991 shares of this retail chain for $32.91 per share for a total amount of $3.75 million.

Key Statistics:

P/E: 11.65Forward P/E: 9.81Industry P/E: 15.10
P/S: 1.43Price/Book: 2.99EV/EBITDA: 5.53
Market Cap: $3.04 billionAvg. Daily Volume: 2,101,71052 Week Range: $25.85 – $51.28

5. Advent Software Inc. (ADVS) $48.00

CEO Stephanie Dimarco also sold 20,000 shares of this financial software services provider for $49.28 per share for a total amount of $985,582. Director George Battle sold 10,000 shares for $50 per share for a total amount of $500,000.

Key Statistics:

P/E: 36.89Forward P/E: 30.38Industry P/E: 24.27
P/S: 4.91Price/Book: 5.10EV/EBITDA: 27.56
Market Cap: $1.24 BillionAvg. Daily Volume: 122,55552 Week Range: $33.18 – $50.20

Patisserie Philippe Fruit TartOn an unrelated note, located right across from Advent Software’s San Francisco headquarters is one of the most delightful little French bakeries I have ever set foot into. Patisserie Philippe has amazing fruit tartelettes, a chocolate banana pastry that is to die for (can’t recollect its name) and their freshly baked large chocolate chip cookies with walnuts tend to sell out early. Definitely worth a visit if you live in the City or happen to visit San Francisco.

Contributing author: Ann Kumar