Insider Weekends – January 6, 2012

  • January 7, 2012

Welcome to edition eighty three of Insider Weekends. Insider buying increased with insiders purchasing $33.1 million of their stock last week compared to $11.03 million in the week prior. Selling declined slightly with insiders selling $344.5 million worth of stock last week compared to $353.4 million in the week prior.

Insider purchases were actually muted last week as is usually the case after the end of a quarter and the start of earnings season. The increase in insider buying was primarily driven by a $21.26 million purchase of Cracker Barrel (CBRL) by 10% owner Sardar Biglari through Biglari Holdings (BH).

We wrote the following about Mr. Biglari last March following his insider purchases of Biglari Holdings,

Young Mr. Biglari has been considered by some as the next Warren Buffett following his purchase of The Steak n Shake restaurant chain and penchant for activist value investing. He has also come under criticism by many in the value investing community on account of his compensation package and his decision to reverse split the stock twice, resulting in a stock that now has a triple digit price.

This article titled “The Restaurant Investor” (PDF) does a great job of introducing Mr. Biglari while this open letter to Mr. Biglari covers some of the criticism. As you can see from this page, he was actively buying shares last August when the stock was trading below $300.”

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 dropped to 10.4. In other words, insiders sold more than 10 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the week prior when the ratio stood at 32.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 January 6, 2012
Insider Sell Buy Ratio January 6, 2012

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. Houston American Energy Corp. (HUSA): $12.78

Director John P. Boylan acquired 60,000 shares of this oil & gas exploration company, paying $12.91 per share for a total amount of $774,780.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Houston American Energy Corp. here.

P/E: 28.34Forward P/E: 67.26Industry P/E: 16.85
P/S: 130.39Price/Book: 8.35EV/EBITDA: -109.88
Market Cap: $398.29MAvg. Daily Volume: 141,87152 Week Range: $10.06 – $20.9

2. Unilife Corporation (UNIS): $3.58

Chief Executive Officer Alan Shortall acquired 150,000 shares of this syringe and healthcare equipment manufacturer, paying $3.67 per share for a total amount of $549,988. Mr. Shortall increased his stake by 2.89% to 5,344,768 shares with this purchase.

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

P/E: N/AForward P/E: N/AIndustry P/E: 17.26
P/S: 43.71Price/Book: 5.02EV/EBITDA: -6.16
Market Cap: $223.28MAvg. Daily Volume: 291,69052 Week Range: $2.82 – $6.04

3. Opko Health, Inc. (OPK): $4.9

CEO & Chairman Phillip Frost M.D. acquired 40,000 shares of this medical appliances & equipment company, paying $4.86 per share for a total amount of $194,399. These shares were purchased indirectly by Frost Gamma Investments Trust.

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

P/E: N/AForward P/E: N/AIndustry P/E: 20.79
P/S: 32.84Price/Book: 13.7EV/EBITDA: -88.42
Market Cap: $1.40BAvg. Daily Volume: 1,702,34052 Week Range: $3.15 – $5.85

4. Kronos Worldwide Inc. (KRO): $21.7

Chairman of the Board Harold C. Simmons acquired 10,000 shares of this titanium dioxide producer, paying $18.00 per share for a total amount of $179,961. These shares were purchased indirectly by Mr. Simmons’s spouse.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Kronos Worldwide Inc. here.

P/E: 9.13Forward P/E: 7.14Industry P/E: 8.98
P/S: 1.25Price/Book: 2.64EV/EBITDA: 5.42
Market Cap: $2.52BAvg. Daily Volume: 756,92252 Week Range: $14.16 – $34.5

5. Enstar Group Limited (ESGR): $96.19

Director Robert J. Campbell acquired 1,500 shares of this holding company for insurance and reinsurance companies, paying $98.94 per share for a total amount of $148,410. These shares were purchased indirectly by Mr. Campbell’s self-directed pension plan.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Enstar Group Limited here.

P/E: 8.9Forward P/E: 8.19Industry P/E: 13.81
P/S: 13.31Price/Book: 1.3EV/EBITDA: 53.97
Market Cap: $1.39BAvg. Daily Volume: 18,15452 Week Range: $80.2 – $114.56

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Apollo Group Inc. (APOL): $56.64

Shares of this for-profit education company were sold by 2 insiders:

  • Executive Chairman of the Board John G. Sperling sold 60,000 shares for $53.37, generating $3.2 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
  • Vice Chairman of the Board Peter V. Sperling sold 30,000 shares for $53.37, generating $1.6 million from the sale.

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

P/E: 14.03Forward P/E: 15.6Industry P/E: 15.67
P/S: 1.48Price/Book: 5.65EV/EBITDA: 4.81
Market Cap: $7.40BAvg. Daily Volume: 1,861,18052 Week Range: $34.43 – $57.09

2. Body Central Corp. (BODY): $23.15

Shares of this apparel chain were sold by 3 insiders:

  • Director Scott Gallin sold 110,777 shares for $23.65, generating $2.6 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by PineBridge Investments LLC.
  • Director Jerrold Rosenbaum sold 20,778 shares for $23.99, generating $498,486 from the sale.
  • EVP & Chief Merchandising Ofcr Beth Angelo sold 12,987 shares for $23.99, generating $311,572 from the sale.

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

P/E: 22.63Forward P/E: 15.54Industry P/E: 15.55
P/S: 1.3Price/Book: 4.77EV/EBITDA: 10.35
Market Cap: $370.49MAvg. Daily Volume: 150,09852 Week Range: $14.61 – $26.98

3. Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB): $115.5

Shares of this biotech company were sold by 2 insiders:

  • Executive VP and CFO Paul J. Clancy sold 20,244 shares for $112.35, generating $2.3 million from the sale.
  • Director Nancy Leaming sold 4,000 shares for $114.00, generating $456,000 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 Biogen Idec Inc. here.

P/E: 24.05Forward P/E: 18.28Industry P/E: 15.28
P/S: 5.68Price/Book: 4.49EV/EBITDA: 12.96
Market Cap: $28.06BAvg. Daily Volume: 1,753,16052 Week Range: $64.28 – $120.66

4. Fastenal Company (FAST): $45.21

Director Stephen M. Slaggie sold 50,000 shares of this industrial and construction materials retailer for $44.02, generating $2.2 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Fastenal Company here.

P/E: 40.01Forward P/E: 32.06Industry P/E: 11.77
P/S: 5.04Price/Book: 9.46EV/EBITDA: 22.61
Market Cap: $13.35BAvg. Daily Volume: 2,271,09052 Week Range: $28.81 – $45.44

5. Jabil Circuit Inc. (JBL): $20.87

Shares of this electronic manufacturing services provider were sold by 3 insiders:

  • Director William D. Morean sold 79,100 shares for $19.99, generating $1.6 million from the sale. 38,400 of these shares were sold indirectly by the William E. Morean Residual Trust and 2,300 shares were sold indirectly by the Eagle’s Wing Foundation.
  • Chief Operating Officer Mark T. Mondello sold 15,000 shares for $20.18, generating $302,692 from the sale.
  • Director Lawrence J. Murphy sold 7,000 shares for $20.19, generating $141,365 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 Jabil Circuit Inc. here.

P/E: 11.75Forward P/E: 7.15Industry P/E: 11.9
P/S: 0.25Price/Book: 2.25EV/EBITDA: 4.81
Market Cap: $4.29BAvg. Daily Volume: 3,701,44052 Week Range: $13.94 – $23.09

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