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Insider Weekends – September 9, 2011

  • September 11, 2011

Welcome to edition sixty six of Insider Weekends. Insider buying decreased with insiders purchasing $72.5 million of their stock last week when compared to $306.6 million in the week prior. Selling also decreased with insiders selling $409.6 million worth of stock compared to $521.6 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 went up to 5.7. In other words, insiders sold almost six times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the week prior when the ratio stood at 1.7. 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 September 9, 2011
Insider Sell Buy Ratio September 9, 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. Mueller Industries Inc. (MLI): $43.42

Director Joseph S. Steinberg acquired 287,600 shares of this metal products manufacturer, paying $43.57 per share for a total amount of $12.5 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by Leucadia National Corporation (“Leucadia”). The Reporting Person is a significant shareholder, a director and the President of Leucadia

I normally exclude purchases by corporate entities like Leucadia. However I decided to include this purchase because Leucadia is a publicly traded holding company that is also sometimes referred to as a “mini Berkshire Hathaway”. Mr. Steinberg is the President of Leucadia and his Harvard Business School classmate from the class of 1970, Ian Cumming, is the Chairman of the company. Interestingly these purchases follow an agreement between the two companies to limit Leucadia’s stake to 27.5% of Mueller.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Mueller Industries Inc. here.

P/E: 16.56Forward P/E: 13.36Industry P/E: 10.32
P/S: 0.71Price/Book: 1.98EV/EBITDA: 8.31
Market Cap: $1.65BAvg. Daily Volume: 683,40052 Week Range: $24.59 – $47.72

2. Prospect Capital Corporation (PSEC): $8.49

Shares of this business development company were acquired by 2 insiders:

  • Chief Executive Officer John F. Barry acquired 381,814 shares, paying $9.32 per share for a total amount of $3.6 million. Mr. Barry increased his stake by 16.57% to 2,686,447 shares with this purchase. 146,814 of Mr. Barry’s shares were acquired as a result of reinvesting dividends.
  • Chief Operating Officer Grier Eliasek acquired 59,563 shares, paying $8.40 per share for a total amount of $500,114. Mr. Eliasek increased his stake by 108.74% to 114,339 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Prospect Capital Corporation here.

P/E: 6.17Forward P/E: 7.45Industry P/E: 12.95
P/S: 5.56Price/Book: 0.83EV/EBITDA: N/A
Market Cap: $928.09MAvg. Daily Volume: 2,021,21052 Week Range: $7.41 – $12.38

3. Owens-Illinois, Inc. (OI): $16.64

Board Chair & CEO Albert P. Stroucken acquired 121,200 shares of this manufacturer of glass containers, paying $16.56 per share for a total amount of $2 million. Mr. Stroucken increased his stake by 38.51% to 435,928 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Owens-Illinois, Inc. here.

P/E: N/AForward P/E: 5.78Industry P/E: 10.76
P/S: 0.4Price/Book: 1.33EV/EBITDA: 5.85
Market Cap: $2.73BAvg. Daily Volume: 2,913,69052 Week Range: $16.01 – $33.32

4. SWS Group Inc. (SWS): $5.25

Shares of this financial services company were acquired by 4 insiders:

  • Director Gerald J. Ford acquired 225,800 shares, paying $4.57 per share for a total amount of $1.03 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by Hilltop Holdings Inc. of which Mr. Gerald Ford is Chairman of the Board and a 26.6% beneficial owner.
  • Executive Vice President Daniel Leland acquired 20,900 shares, paying $4.58 per share for a total amount of $95,774. Mr. Leland increased his stake by 126.31% to 37,446 shares with this purchase.
  • Director Frederick Meyer acquired 18,000 shares, paying $4.02 per share for a total amount of $72,300. Mr. Meyer increased his stake by 10.61% to 187,590 shares with this purchase.
  • President and CEO James H. Ross acquired 15,000 shares, paying $3.76 per share for a total amount of $56,400. These shares were purchased indirectly through the 401 (k) plan.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for SWS Group Inc. here.

P/E: N/AForward P/E: 9.05Industry P/E: 11.83
P/S: 0.57Price/Book: 0.46EV/EBITDA: N/A
Market Cap: $170.83MAvg. Daily Volume: 332,17952 Week Range: $3.67 – $7.72

5. Overseas Shipholding Group Inc. (OSG): $16.26

Shares of this oil tanker company were acquired by 3 insiders:

  • Director Oudi Recanati acquired 53,263 shares, paying $16.21 per share for a total amount of $863,541. Mr. Recanati increased his stake by 4.24% to 1,309,315 shares with this purchase.
  • Director Charles Fribourg acquired 11,900 shares, paying $16.75 per share for a total amount of $199,317. Mr. Fribourg increased his stake by 13.53% to 99,869 shares with this purchase.
  • Director Solomon N. Merkin acquired 800 shares, paying $16.40 per share for a total amount of $13,120. Mr. Merkin increased his stake by 4.26% to 19,600 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Overseas Shipholding Group Inc. here.

P/E: N/AForward P/E: N/AIndustry P/E: 11.12
P/S: 0.5Price/Book: 0.3EV/EBITDA: 104.6
Market Cap: $495.34MAvg. Daily Volume: 786,29152 Week Range: $14.77 – $38.32

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Acme Packet, Inc. (APKT): $45.59

Shares of this network equipment company were sold by 2 insiders:

  • Director Gary J. Bowen sold 200,000 shares for $49.11, generating $9.8 million from the sale.
  • Chief Technology Officer Patrick J. Melampy sold 60,000 shares for $46.78, generating $2.8 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Acme Packet, Inc. here.

P/E: 60.95Forward P/E: 29.6Industry P/E: 13.52
P/S: 11.56Price/Book: 8.17EV/EBITDA: 29.65
Market Cap: $3.02BAvg. Daily Volume: 2,505,64052 Week Range: $33.07 – $84.5

2. LoopNet, Inc. (LOOP): $17.26

Shares of this operatator of an online marketplace for commercial real estate were sold by 4 insiders:

  • Chief Executive Officer Richard J. Boyle sold 217,749 shares for $17.48, generating $3.8 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
  • CFO and VP, Finance/Admin Brent Stumme sold 92,449 shares for $17.46, generating $1.6 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
  • Chief Technology Officer & SVP Wayne B. Warthen sold 85,461 shares for $17.46, generating $1.5 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
  • President and COO Thomas P. Byrne sold 13,170 shares for $17.52, generating $230,698 from the sale.

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

P/E: 53.94Forward P/E: 52.3Industry P/E: 20.65
P/S: 8.64Price/Book: 4.18EV/EBITDA: 29.51
Market Cap: $704.54MAvg. Daily Volume: 280,00852 Week Range: $9.94 – $18.95

3. Rovi Corporation (ROVI): $44.52

Shares of this entertainment technology solutions provider were sold by 5 insiders:

  • President and CEO Alfred J. Amoroso sold 52,500 shares for $49.06, generating $2.6 million from the sale.
  • EVP, Products Corey Ferengul sold 16,500 shares for $49.04, generating $809,210 from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
  • EVP & CFO James Budge sold 14,688 shares for $46.27, generating $679,657 from the sale. 5,313 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
  • EVP, WW Sales and Services Tom Carson sold 6,562 shares for $48.80, generating $320,226 from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
  • EVP & General Counsel Stephen Yu sold 6,000 shares for $45.75, generating $274,503 from the sale. These shares were sold to cover tax withholdings associated with the vesting of restricted stock.

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

P/E: 46.23Forward P/E: 14.36Industry P/E: 13.39
P/S: 7.99Price/Book: 2.71EV/EBITDA: 23.12
Market Cap: $4.89BAvg. Daily Volume: 1,278,49052 Week Range: $41.17 – $69.5

4. Rackspace Hosting, Inc (RAX): $35.17

Shares of this server and cloud hosting company were sold by 3 insiders:

  • President, Cloud Lew Moorman sold 77,000 shares for $34.35, generating $2.6 million from the sale. 14,000 of these shares were sold indirectly through a trust and 3,000 of these shares were sold indirectly by Mr. Moorman’s wife.
  • SVP and GM, Cloud Patrick M. Matthews sold 3,000 shares for $35.90, generating $107,690 from the sale.
  • Sr. V.P., GC, and Secretary Alan Schoenbaum sold 300 shares for $36.07, generating $10,820 from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Rackspace Hosting, Inc here.

P/E: 83.74Forward P/E: 44.52Industry P/E: 31.11
P/S: 5.26Price/Book: 9.15EV/EBITDA: 18.62
Market Cap: $4.59BAvg. Daily Volume: 1,953,00052 Week Range: $20.88 – $46.49

5. Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. (CBI): $33.87

President and CEO Philip K. Asherman sold 75,000 shares of this provider of engineering and construction services for $35.42, generating $2.7 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. here.

P/E: 14.91Forward P/E: 11.1Industry P/E: 11.38
P/S: 0.9Price/Book: 3.05EV/EBITDA: 8.03
Market Cap: $3.34BAvg. Daily Volume: 1,128,99052 Week Range: $22.72 – $45.12

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