Insider Weekends – April 13, 2012

Welcome to edition ninety seven of Insider Weekends. Insider buying decreased with insiders purchasing $19.8 million of their stock last week compared to $28.9 million in the week prior. Selling declined sharply with insiders selling $215.7 million worth of stock last week compared to $1.45 billion 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 dropped down to 10.9. In other words, insiders sold almost 11 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favorably with the week prior when the ratio stood at 50.3. 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.

Note: As mentioned in the first post in this series, 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. Opko Health, Inc. (OPK): $4.38

CEO & Chairman Phillip Frost M.D. acquired 390,000 shares of this medical devices and drug development company, paying $4.53 per share for a total amount of $1.8 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by Frost Gamma Investments Trust.

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

2. Winmark Corp. (WINA): $53.95

Chairman & CEO John L. Morgan acquired 10,000 shares of this retail franchise company, paying $54.11 per share for a total amount of $541,100. Mr. Morgan increased his stake by 0.61% to 1,659,678 shares with this purchase.

Voluntary Disclosure: I hold a third of the position in Winmark that I started in January 2011 following a string of insider purchases by Mr. Morgan.

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

3. Valhi, Inc. (VHI): $51.35

Chairman of the Board Harold C. Simmons acquired 10,000 shares of this chemicals and toxic waste management company, paying $49.43 per share for a total amount of $494,265. Mr. Simmons increased his stake by 2.37% to 432,681 shares with this purchase.

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

4. Greenbrier Companies (GBX): $17.82

Director Bruce C. Ward acquired 25,000 shares of this Oregon based railroad freight car equipment company, paying $18.05 per share for a total amount of $451,289. Mr. Ward increased his stake by 93.56% to 51,722 shares with this purchase.

Voluntary Disclosure: I hold a long position in Greenbrier.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Greenbrier Companies here.

5. AngioDynamics Inc. (ANGO): $11.87

Shares of this medical devices company were acquired by 4 insiders:

• Director Vincent Bucci acquired 6,000 shares, paying $11.81 per share for a total amount of $70,876. Mr. Bucci increased his stake by 23.21% to 31,846 shares with this purchase. 4,000 of these shares were purchased indirectly by Mr. Bucci’s daughter.
• President and CEO Joseph Devivo acquired 5,000 shares, paying $11.82 per share for a total amount of $59,094. Mr. Devivo increased his stake by 16.13% to 36,000 shares with this purchase.
• Director Kevin J. Gould acquired 2,700 shares, paying $11.72 per share for a total amount of $31,636.
• SVP, Business Development Matthew C. Kapusta acquired 1,000 shares, paying $11.40 per share for a total amount of $11,397. Mr. Kapusta increased his stake by 6.67% to 16,000 shares with this purchase.

This is an interesting company that trades for just 6 times EBITDA and had $130 million in net cash on its balance sheet. The company agreed to acquire privately held Navilyst Medical in a cash plus stock deal valued at $372 million in February. Following this acquisition, the company will have at least $50 million in cash and investments and $150 million in debt.

Insiders have purchased shares several times since the start of this year as you can see from this page. This cluster of insider purchases generated some interest and helped the stock rebound from a fresh 52 week low it had set on Tuesday, April 10, 2012.

Voluntary Disclosure: I hold a long position in AngioDynamics.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Dell Inc. (DELL): $16.11

Shares of Dell were sold by 2 insiders:

• Director Thomas Luce III sold 4,420 shares for $1619.00, generating $7.2 million from the sale.
• Senior Vice President Karen H. Quintos sold 14,933 shares for $16.46, generating $245,797 from the sale.

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

2. Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO): $14.87

Chief Yahoo David Filo sold 168,500 shares of this internet media company for $15.04, generating $2.5 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

Voluntary Disclosure: I hold a long position in Yahoo.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Yahoo! Inc. here.

3. Conns Inc. (CONN): $17.61

Shares of this specialty retailer of home appliances were sold by 3 insiders:

• President – Retail Division David W. Trahan sold 30,000 shares for $18.89, generating $566,792 from the sale.
• 10% Owner Warren A. Stephens sold 29,600 shares for $17.52, generating $518,592 from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
• Director Douglas H. Martin sold 20,000 shares for $18.48, generating $369,682 from the sale.

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

4. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (LGF): $12.58

Shares of this movie production and distribution company were sold by 3 insiders:

• Co-COO Steve Beeks sold 70,000 shares for $12.85, generating $899,500 from the sale.
• EVP and General Counsel Wayne Levin sold 60,000 shares for $12.51, generating $750,600 from the sale.
• Chief Financial Officer James Keegan sold 25,000 shares for $12.51, generating $312,750 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. here.

5. The J. M. Smucker Company (SJM): $79.25

Shares of this packaged food products company were sold by 3 insiders:

• President Mark T. Smucker sold 20,000 shares for $80.60, generating $1.6 million from the sale.
• CFO Mark R. Belgya sold 1,000 shares for $80.68, generating $80,680 from the sale.
• Vice President John W. Denman sold 150 shares for $80.68, generating $12,102 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for The J. M. Smucker Company here.

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