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Insider Weekends – April 1, 2011

  • April 3, 2011

Welcome to edition forty three of Insider Weekends. Insider buying dropped sharply for a second week in a row with insiders purchasing $21.65 million of their stock last week when compared to $61.38 million in the week prior. Selling on the other hand picked up steam with insiders selling $742.56 million worth of stock when compared to $455.94 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 purchases that week. The adjusted ratio for last week increased to 34.3. In other words, insiders sold more than 34 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the week prior when the ratio stood at 7.43. 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.

Insider Sell Buy Ratio April 1, 2011
Insider Sell Buy Ratio April 1, 2011

Note: As mentioned in the first post in this series Introduction to Insider Weekends, certain industries have their preferred metrics such as same store sales for retailers, funds from operations (FFO) for REITs and revenue per available room (RevPAR) for hotels that provide a better basis for comparison than simple valuation metrics. However metrics like Price/Earnings, Price/Sales and Enterprise Value/EBITDA included below should provide a good starting point for analyzing the majority of stocks.

Notable Insider Buys:

1. Kinder Morgan, Inc. (KMI): $29.5

Chairman & CEO Richard D. Kinder acquired 100,000 shares of this oil & gas pipelines company, paying $29.80 per share for a total amount of $2.98 million.

The company completed its IPO last month. This Morningstar article titled “Three Ways to Invest in Kinder Morgan” does a great job of explaining the differences between the three incarnations of Kinder Morgan.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Kinder Morgan, Inc. here.

P/E: N/AForward P/E: 24.79Industry P/E: N/A
P/S: 2.93Price/Book: 6.98EV/EBITDA: 15.54
Market Cap: $23.88BAvg. Daily Volume: 3,473,75052 Week Range: $29.49 – $32.14

2. ChinaCast Education Corporation (CAST): $6.16

Director Ned L. Sherwood acquired 406,000 shares of this for-profit education and e-learning provider, paying $6.50 per share for a total amount of $2.64 million. These shares were acquired indirectly through ZS EDU L.P.

This is the second week in a row that CAST has made our list and Mr. Sherwood has been actively buying shares. This critical article by Roddy Boyd might explain why the stock has remained under pressure despite the insider purchases.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for ChinaCast Education Corporation here.

P/E: 27.62Forward P/E: 8.8Industry P/E: N/A
P/S: 4Price/Book: 1.17EV/EBITDA: N/A
Market Cap: $306.63MAvg. Daily Volume: N/A52 Week Range: $5.26 – $7.99

3. Armstrong World Industries, Inc. (AWI): $47.27

Executive V.P. Victor Grizzle acquired 9,000 shares of this flooring and ceiling products company, paying $44.20 per share for a total amount of $397,800. Mr. Grizzle increased his stake by 900% to 10,000 shares with this purchase.

Mr. Grizzle joined the company in January of this year.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Armstrong World Industries, Inc. here.

P/E: 248.79Forward P/E: 15.97Industry P/E: N/A
P/S: 0.97Price/Book: 2.46EV/EBITDA: 11.1
Market Cap: $2.75BAvg. Daily Volume: 298,44152 Week Range: $28.01 – $54.58

4. First Citizens Bancshares Inc. (FCNCA): $201.2

Executive Vice Chairman Frank B. Holding acquired 1,537 shares of this regional bank, paying $200.34 per share for a total amount of $307,920. Mr. Holding increased his stake by 0.30% to 514,570 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for First Citizens Bancshares Inc. here.

P/E: 10.88Forward P/E: N/AIndustry P/E: N/A
P/S: 2.32Price/Book: 1.21EV/EBITDA: N/A
Market Cap: $2.10BAvg. Daily Volume: 9,43552 Week Range: $165.36 – $213.99

5. Comtech Telecommunications Corp. (CMTL): $27.72

Shares of this communication equipment company were acquired by 2 insiders:

  • Chairman, CEO & President Fred Kornberg acquired 10,126 shares, paying $27.22 per share for a total amount of $275,630. Mr. Kornberg increased his stake by 2.94% to 355,000 shares with this purchase.
  • Sr. Vice President & CFO Michael Porcelain acquired 1,100 shares, paying $27.42 per share for a total amount of $30,162. Mr. Porcelain increased his stake by 3.51% to 32,405 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Comtech Telecommunications Corp. here.

P/E: 11.48Forward P/E: 25.2Industry P/E: N/A
P/S: 0.89Price/Book: 1.06EV/EBITDA: 2.19
Market Cap: $739.74MAvg. Daily Volume: 280,59452 Week Range: $20.19 – $33.38

You can view the full list of purchases from this Insider Buying page.

Notable Insider Sales:

1. TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (AMTD): $21.39

Director Joe Ricketts sold 1,387,064 shares of this investment brokerage for $20.70, generating $28.71 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for TD Ameritrade here.

P/E: 20.97Forward P/E: 15.39Industry P/E: N/A
P/S: 4.7Price/Book: 2.98EV/EBITDA: N/A
Market Cap: $12.27BAvg. Daily Volume: 4,477,90052 Week Range: $14.53 – $22.9

2. VeriFone Systems, Inc (PAY): $54.55

CEO Douglas Bergeron sold 250,000 shares of this electronic payment solutions company for $55.68, generating $13.92 million from the sale.

These shares were sold indirectly through DGB Investments, Inc.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for VeriFone Systems, Inc here.

P/E: 40.2Forward P/E: 25.14Industry P/E: N/A
P/S: 4.57Price/Book: 18.43EV/EBITDA: 29.92
Market Cap: $4.82BAvg. Daily Volume: 1,922,47052 Week Range: $15.62 – $58.88

3. Liberty Global Inc. (LBTYA): $41.84

Shares of this TV, voice and internet service provider were sold by 3 insiders:

  • Chairman of the Board John C. Malone sold 193,544 shares for $40.12, generating $7.77 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
  • Sr Vice President & Secretary Elizabeth M. Markowski sold 175,380 shares for $41.15, generating $7.22 million from the sale. 170,000 of these shares were sold a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
  • President-chellomedia & CSO Neill Shane sold 58,041 shares for $40.77, generating $2.37 million from the sale. These shares were sold a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Liberty Global Inc. here.

P/E: 27.24Forward P/E: 21.35Industry P/E: N/A
P/S: 1.11Price/Book: 3.3EV/EBITDA: 7.72
Market Cap: $10.14BAvg. Daily Volume: 1,315,89052 Week Range: $22.78 – $44.32

4. FirstEnergy Corp. (FE): $37.25

Executive Vice Chairman Paul J. Evanson sold 317,700 shares of this electric utility for $36.50, generating $11.59 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for FirstEnergy Corp. here.

P/E: 14.49Forward P/E: 12.76Industry P/E: N/A
P/S: 0.88Price/Book: 1.32EV/EBITDA: 8.04
Market Cap: $11.36BAvg. Daily Volume: 3,986,67052 Week Range: $33.57 – $40.8

5. Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (CLNE): $16.32

Shares of this natural gas fueling station company were sold by 3 insiders:

  • President, CECC Bradley N. Miller sold 679,733 shares for $15.94, generating $10.83 million from the sale.
  • CEO and President Andrew J. Littlefair sold 8,000 shares for $16.60, generating $132,840 from the sale.
  • Director Warren I. Mitchell sold 2,000 shares for $16.60, generating $33,210 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Clean Energy Fuels Corp. here.

P/E: N/AForward P/E: 81.6Industry P/E: N/A
P/S: 6.23Price/Book: 3.15EV/EBITDA: 52.79
Market Cap: $1.06BAvg. Daily Volume: 1,739,41052 Week Range: $11.75 – $23.65

You can view the full list of sales from this Insider Sales page.