Insider Weekends – July 23, 2010

  • July 25, 2010

Welcome to the seventh edition of Insider Weekends. Insider buying fell more than 50% last week when compared to the week prior and is now at its lowest level since we started collecting this information in the last week of April. Insiders purchased just $3.4 million of their stock last week while selling picked up pace with insiders selling $335.55 million worth of stock.

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 spiked to 98.64. In other words, insiders sold almost 99 times as much stock as they purchased. A large part of this was driven by sales of AutoZone by famous hedge fund manager Edward (Eddie) Lampert and his fund ESL Partners. While we normally exclude fund sales, Mr. Lampert also happens to be a 10% owner and sold a number of these shares directly. Removing the AutoZone sales drops the ratio to 51.13.

The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the week prior when the ratio stood at 49.07. We are calculating an adjusted ratio by removing transactions by funds and companies and trying as best as possible only to retain information about insiders and 10% owners who are not funds or companies.

Notable Insider Buys:

1. Agilysys Inc. (AGYS): $7.67

Director Andrew Cueva acquired 116,152 shares of this IT services provider through his fund MAK Capital, paying $7.16 per share for a total amount of $831,560. This is the fifth week Agilysys has made our list.

P/E: 49.81Forward P/E: 22.56Industry P/E: 21.17
P/S: 0.26Price/Book: 0.84EV/EBITDA: 16.81
Market Cap: $175.92MAvg. Daily Volume: 175,66452 Week Range: $4.4 – $12.5

2. FTI Consulting, Inc. (FCN): $35.8

Director James Crownover acquired 1,000 shares of this business advisory company, paying $33.8 per share for a total amount of $33,795. EVP & Chief Operating Officer Dominic Dinapoli also acquired 5,000 shares, paying $34.61 per share for a total amount of $173,045. Director Gerard E Holthaus acquired 2,850 shares, paying $35.05 per share for a total amount of $99,879. FTI Consulting was on our list last week as well after the CEO and Chairman of the Board both acquires shares.

P/E: 14.78Forward P/E: 12.39Industry P/E: 20.78
P/S: 1.18Price/Book: 1.48EV/EBITDA: 6.77
Market Cap: $1.68BAvg. Daily Volume: 959,47352 Week Range: $30.78 – $56.41

3. General Mills Inc. (GIS): $35.52

EVP, Gen Counsel, Chief Compliance & Risk, Roderick A Palmore acquired 6,747 shares of this branded food manufacturer, paying $35.6 per share for a total amount of $240,193.

P/E: 15.86Forward P/E: 13.11Industry P/E: 15.94
P/S: 1.56Price/Book: 4.3EV/EBITDA: 9.39
Market Cap: $23.13BAvg. Daily Volume: 6,506,72052 Week Range: $28.55 – $38.98

4. Piper Jaffray Companies (PJC): $29.6

Chairman & CEO Andres S Duff also acquired 5,000 shares of this investment bank and asset management company, paying $28.19 per share for a total amount of $140,942. Chief Administrative Officer Ronald T Firebaugh acquired 3,500 shares, paying $28.09 for a total amount of $98,315.

P/E: 16.92Forward P/E: 11.94Industry P/E: 17.1
P/S: 1.19Price/Book: 0.54EV/EBITDA: N/A
Market Cap: $614.44MAvg. Daily Volume: 197,05052 Week Range: $26.84 – $57.8

5. H&R Block, Inc. (HRB): $15.23

Director Christianna Wood acquired 9,713 shares of this tax preparation company, paying $14.82 per share for a total amount of $143,932.

P/E: 10.64Forward P/E: 8.46Industry P/E: 13.18
P/S: 1.26Price/Book: 3.38EV/EBITDA: 4.33
Market Cap: $4.92BAvg. Daily Volume: 4,734,43052 Week Range: $13.44 – $23.23

Notable Insider Sales:

1. AutoZone Inc. (AZO): $207.00

Director William Crowley sold 2,151 shares of this auto parts retailer both directly and through his company Tynan LLC, at an average price of $207.13, generating $445,532 from the sale. 10% owner Edward Lampert (of Sears Holdings fame) sold 778,195 shares both directly and through his fund ESL Partners, at an average price of $207.13, generating $161.19 million from the sale.

P/E: 14.87Forward P/E: 12.55Industry P/E: 19.89
P/S: 1.36Price/Book: N/AEV/EBITDA: 8.49
Market Cap: $9.73BAvg. Daily Volume: 641,35652 Week Range: $135.13 – $208.2

2. Apollo Group Inc. (APOL): $49.27

Vice Chairman of the Board Peter Sperling sold 100,000 shares of this for-profit education company (Apollo is the parent company of the widely recognized University of Phoenix) for $47.67, generating $4.77 million from the sale. Apollo was also on our list last week when Mr. Sperling sold 250,000 shares for a total amount of $10.95 million.

P/E: 12.63Forward P/E: 8.8Industry P/E: 19.01
P/S: 1.44Price/Book: 4.93EV/EBITDA: 4.57
Market Cap: $7.27BAvg. Daily Volume: 3,688,95052 Week Range: $41.45 – $76.86

3. Emergent BioSolutions, Inc. (EBS): $19.23

CEO and Chairman Fuad El-Hibri sold 233,333 shares of this biotech company for an average selling price of $18.43, generating $4.3 million from the sale.

P/E: 26.75Forward P/E: 18.31Industry P/E: 15.11
P/S: 2.72Price/Book: 2.38EV/EBITDA: 14
Market Cap: $596.90MAvg. Daily Volume: 238,06152 Week Range: $12.36 – $19.95

4. National Instruments Corporation (NATI): $32.00

President James Truchard sold 80,500 shares of this application software and hardware company for an average selling price of $31.79, generating $2.56 million from the sale. Director Jeffrey Kodosky sold 12,000 shares for $30.52, generating $376,200 from the sale.

P/E: 71.43Forward P/E: 20.25Industry P/E: 27.88
P/S: 3.46Price/Book: 3.73EV/EBITDA: 22.68
Market Cap: $2.48BAvg. Daily Volume: 251,75852 Week Range: $23.91 – $36.98

5. iGATE Corporation (IGTE):$17.43

President and CEO Phaneesh Murthy sold 100,000 at an average selling price of $17.07, generating $1.71 million from the sale. Director Gordon Garrett sold 16,576 shares for $17.14, generating $284,067 from the sale. VP & Regional Manager – Canada Jason Trussell sold 11,825 shares for $16.99, generating $200,943 from the sale. Chief Delivery Officer – IT Services Suresh Sean Narayanan sold 9,274 shares for $17.01, generating $157,778. CFO Sujit Sircar sold 8,856 shares for $17.21, generating $152,387 from the sale.

P/E: 24.62Forward P/E: 18.35Industry P/E: 21.17
P/S: 4.25Price/Book: 4.52EV/EBITDA: 17.25
Market Cap: $972.77MAvg. Daily Volume: 275,10052 Week Range: $6.31 – $17.75