Welcome to edition eleven of Insider Weekends. Insider buying increased last week with insiders purchasing $45.76 million of their stock when compared to $33.42 million in the week prior. Selling also increased significantly with insiders selling $1.01 billion worth of stock when compared to $820.41 million in the week prior.
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 dropped to 22.04. In other words, insiders sold almost 22 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favorably with the week prior when the ratio stood at 24.55. 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. Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP (CLMT): $17.51
President and CEO William Ferdinand Grube acquired 775,000 shares of this specialty hydrocarbon products company, paying $17.65 per share for a total amount of $13.68 million.
This is by far the largest insider purchase we have seen in recent weeks. The purchase was actually made indirectly through a company called AEG Associates II, LLC. I looked up AEG Associates II on the Indiana Secretary of State website and found that the registered agent for both AEG Associates and AEG Associates II is Janet Krampe Grube, the wife of F. William Grube.
Besides this large purchase by Mr. Grube, two other insiders also purchased shares in May following a sharp decline in the stock price from nearly $22 to $15.49 in early May. EVP Jennifer Straumins purchased 15,600 shares for $255,030 and Director George C. Morris III purchased 23,500 shares for $421,580. Jennifer Straumins is Mr. Grube’s daughter.
Calumet Specialty Products is a Master Limited Partnership (MLP) with a 10.4% yield. MLPs are supposed to pay out 85 to 90% of their income as distributions to shareholders and shareholders are responsible for taxes instead of the corporation. If you are not familiar with MLPs and why investing in them in retirement accounts is not recommended, please check out this section of the November 2008 InsideArbitrage.
P/E: N/A | Forward P/E: 12.6 | Industry P/E: 16.26 |
P/S: 0.31 | Price/Book: 1.52 | EV/EBITDA: 10.7 |
Market Cap: $617.74M | Avg. Daily Volume: 115,851 | 52 Week Range: $13.3 – $23.93 |
2. Continental Resources Inc. (CLR): $41.31
Shares of this producer of crude oil and natural gas, were purchased by two insiders:
P/E: 27.2 | Forward P/E: 19.04 | Industry P/E: 17.17 |
P/S: 8.66 | Price/Book: 5.88 | EV/EBITDA: 11.64 |
Market Cap: $7.02B | Avg. Daily Volume: 898,112 | 52 Week Range: $33.86 – $52.53 |
3. CME Group Inc. (CME): $237.69
Director William Shepard acquired 5,000 shares of this national investment brokerage company, paying $245 per share for a total amount of $1.22 million
P/E: 17.23 | Forward P/E: 13.67 | Industry P/E: 17.81 |
P/S: 5.73 | Price/Book: 0.81 | EV/EBITDA: 9.52 |
Market Cap: $15.98B | Avg. Daily Volume: 726,078 | 52 Week Range: $236.58 – $353.03 |
4. Emeritus Corp. (ESC): $16.14
Chairman & Co-CEO Daniel Baty acquired 50,000 shares of this operator of senior living communities, paying $16.12 per share for a total amount of $806,010.
P/E: N/A | Forward P/E: N/A | Industry P/E: 14.4 |
P/S: 0.69 | Price/Book: 2.11 | EV/EBITDA: 15.46 |
Market Cap: $634.12M | Avg. Daily Volume: 156,162 | 52 Week Range: $14.55 – $24.83 |
5. Devon Energy Corporation (DVN): $62.14
Director Duane Radtke acquired 10,000 shares of this independent energy company, paying $63.24 per share for a total amount of $632,392. Mr. Radtke was appointed to the board of directors on August 16 and hence I would not read too much into this purchase.
P/E: 9.02 | Forward P/E: 9.8 | Industry P/E: 19.08 |
P/S: 3.09 | Price/Book: 1.64 | EV/EBITDA: 5.29 |
Market Cap: $27.03B | Avg. Daily Volume: 4,599,220 | 52 Week Range: $58.58 – $76.79 |
Notable Insider Sales:
1. Crown Castle International Corp. (CCI): $40.6
Director David Abrams sold 2,099,748 shares of this wireless communications tower company for $40 per share generating $84 million. This is the third week in a row that Mr. Abrams has indirectly liquidated shares. Another director Robert McKenzie also sold $1.2 million worth of stock last week but that was an options related sale.
P/E: N/A | Forward P/E: 112.78 | Industry P/E: 16.03 |
P/S: 6.65 | Price/Book: 4.75 | EV/EBITDA: 17.49 |
Market Cap: $11.79B | Avg. Daily Volume: 2,169,960 | 52 Week Range: $25.79 – $41.44 |
2. Mercadolibre, Inc. (MELI): $69.66
Two insiders sold shares of this Argentinian e-commerce and payments provider:
P/E: 72.49 | Forward P/E: 44.94 | Industry P/E: 19.66 |
P/S: 15.08 | Price/Book: 22.34 | EV/EBITDA: 40.25 |
Market Cap: $3.07B | Avg. Daily Volume: 986,063 | 52 Week Range: $29.6 – $70.32 |
3. Boston Properties Inc. (BXP): $81.23
Three insiders sold shares of this office REIT that yields just 2.5%:
P/E: 48.58 | Forward P/E: 18.25 | Industry P/E: 49.74 |
P/S: 7.28 | Price/Book: 2.55 | EV/EBITDA: 17.72 |
Market Cap: $11.32B | Avg. Daily Volume: 1,617,700 | 52 Week Range: $55.85 – $86.08 |
4. Aircastle LTD (AYR): $8.3
Three insiders sold shares of this jet rental and leasing company:
P/E: 7.06 | Forward P/E: 7.61 | Industry P/E: 16.08 |
P/S: 1.16 | Price/Book: 0.51 | EV/EBITDA: 6.64 |
Market Cap: $659.61M | Avg. Daily Volume: 542,148 | 52 Week Range: $7.45 – $12.38 |
5. Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. (MRX): $27.06
Four insiders sold shares of this dermatological and aesthetic products company:
P/E: 13.27 | Forward P/E: 10.65 | Industry P/E: 16.51 |
P/S: 2.37 | Price/Book: 2.02 | EV/EBITDA: 5.16 |
Market Cap: $1.63B | Avg. Daily Volume: 1,065,690 | 52 Week Range: $17.86 – $28.15 |