Insider Weekends – November 27, 2015

Welcome to edition 284 of Insider Weekends. Insider buying declined last week with insiders buying $67.18 million of stock compared to $132.46 million in the week prior. Selling also decreased with insiders selling $1.85 billion of stock last week compared to $2.15 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 went up to 27.49. In other words, insiders sold more than 27 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 16.24. 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. Southern Copper Corp. (SCCO): $25.68

Chairman of the Board German Larrea Velasco acquired 334,000 shares of this copper mining company, paying $27.14 per share for a total amount of $9.06 million. Mr. Velasco increased his stake by 13.17% to 2,870,567 shares with this purchase.

This is the fifth time in the last three months we have reported on large insider purchases by Mr. Mota-Velasco. These purchases come against a very weak backdrop for copper prices, that are at a six year low and have only been lower during the great recession going back a decade.

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

2. Platform Specialty Products Corporation (PAH): $12.33

Shares of this specialty chemicals company were acquired by 4 insiders:

• Director Martin E. Franklin acquired 500,000 shares, paying $11.88 per share for a total amount of $5.94 million. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.
• CFO Sanjiv Khattri acquired 5,000 shares, paying $11.83 per share for a total amount of $59,150.
• Chief Operating Officer Benjamin Gliklich acquired 4,000 shares, paying $11.75 per share for a total amount of $47,000. Mr. Gliklich increased his stake by 84.03% to 8,760 shares with this purchase.
• Corporate Treasurer David A. Jacoboski acquired 1,500 shares, paying $12.53 per share for a total amount of $18,792. Mr. Jacoboski increased his stake by 300.00% to 2,000 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Platform Specialty Products Corporation here.

3. Ares Management, L.P. (ARES): $14.11

Shares of this alternative asset manager were acquired by 3 insiders:

• Co-Founder & Partner John H. Kissick acquired 103,653 shares, paying $13.87 per share for a total amount of $1.44 million. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.
• Co-Founder & President Michael J. Arougheti acquired 87,086 shares, paying $13.85 per share for a total amount of $1.21 million.
• Co-Founder & Partner Bennett Rosenthal acquired 11,986 shares, paying $14.05 per share for a total amount of $168,437. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Ares Management, L.P. here.

4. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (APD): $137.9

Chairman, Pres. and CEO Seifi Ghasemi acquired 20,000 shares of this supplier of industrial gases and performance material, paying $139.93 per share for a total amount of $2.79 million. Mr. Ghasemi increased his stake by 8.90% to 244,740 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. here.

5. EXCO Resources Inc. (XCO): $1.12

Director John C. Wilder Jr. acquired 1,214,210 shares of this independent oil and natural gas company, paying $1.12 per share for a total amount of $1.36 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by Energy Strategic Advisory Services LLC.

ESAS is the registered owner of these shares. Bluescape Resources Company LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, owns 100% of the membership interests of ESAS and has the power to direct the affairs of ESAS.

Mr. Charles John Wilder, Jr. has the power to direct the affairs of Bluescape as its Executive Chairman. The Reporting Person states that neither the filing of this statement nor anything herein shall be deemed an admission that he is, for purposes of Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) or otherwise, the beneficial owner of these securities.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Facebook, Inc. (FB): $105.45

Shares of Facebook were sold by 2 insiders:

• Director Jan Koum sold 2,576,396 shares for $106.45, generating $274.27 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
• Director Susan Desmond-hellmann sold 625 shares for $107.18, generating $66,988 from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

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

2. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA): $84.18

Director Barry Rosenstein sold 1,452,470 shares of this pharmacy-led health and wellbeing company for $82.37, generating $119.63 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by JANA Partners LLC.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. here.

3. United Community Banks, Inc. (UCBI): $21.07

Director Nicholas B. Paumgarten sold 3,000,000 shares of this regional bank for $20.15, generating $60.45 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by Corsair Georgia.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for United Community Banks, Inc. here.

4. Aon plc (AON): $94.65

President & CEO Gregory C. Case sold 230,790 shares of this risk management, HR services and insurance company for $95.04, generating $21.93 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Aon plc here.

5. Honeywell International Inc. (HON): $104.06

Chairman & CEO David M. Cote sold 183,834 shares of this industrial technology and manufacturing company for $104.28, generating $19.17 million from the sale.

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

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

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