Insider Weekends – CEO of Penske Automotive Group Acquires $50 Million Worth of Stock

Welcome to edition 384 of Insider Weekends. With earnings season in full swing we saw an uptick in insider activity on both the buy side and sell side last week. Insider buying increased last week with insiders purchasing $85.03 million of stock compared to $69.72 million in the week prior. Selling more than doubled with insiders selling $1.32 billion of stock last week compared to $490.79 million in the week prior.

There were several interesting purchases this week that did not make the list of top 5 purchases including purchases by a director and the CFO of the home improvement products company Tile Shop Holdings (TTS) and purchases by the CEO and the CFO of security & protection services provider The Brink’s Company (BCO).

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 15.5. In other words, insiders sold more than 15 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavourably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 7.04.

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. Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (PAG): $47.79

Chairman & CEO Roger S. Penske acquired 1,103,996 shares of this auto dealer, paying $45.29 per share for a total amount of $49.99 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by Penske Automotive Holdings Corp.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Penske Automotive Group, Inc. here.

2. Del Taco Restaurants, Inc. (TACO): $12.66

Shares of this restaurant chain were acquired by 3 insiders:

• Director Lawrence F. Levy acquired 200,000 shares, paying $12.54 per share for a total amount of $2.51 million. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.
• Director Ari B. Levy acquired 100,000 shares, paying $12.55 per share for a total amount of $1.25 million. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.
• Director Eileen A. Aptman acquired 28,270 shares, paying $12.56 per share for a total amount of $355,054. These shares were purchased indirectly by Lime Partners, LLC.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Del Taco Restaurants, Inc. here.

3. AT&T Inc. (T): $33.97

Director Matthew K. Rose acquired 29,600 shares of AT&T, paying $33.75 per share for a total amount of $998,868. Mr. Rose increased his stake by 986.67% to 32,600 shares with this purchase.

Mr. Rose has been a director of AT&T since 2010.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for AT&T Inc. here.

4. Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT): $308

Director Daniel F. Akerson acquired 2,500 shares of this defense company, paying $312.02 per share for a total amount of $780,059. Mr. Akerson increased his stake by 50.00% to 7,500 shares with this purchase.

LMT is up 21% this year, outperforming the 14% increase in the S&P 500 as defense stocks rally on expectations of increased defense spending by the current administration. Mr. Akerson was the CEO of General Motors (GM) from 2010 to 2014 and a Managing Director of private equity firm The Carlyle Group before that. He has served on the board of Lockheed Martin since February 2014.

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

5. Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW): $159.06

Sr. VP, General Counsel & Secretary Norman D. Finch acquired 4,986 shares of this industrial products and equipment manufacturer, paying $156.34 per share for a total amount of $779,504. Mr. Finch’s spouse acquired 615 of these shares indirectly through her IRA.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Illinois Tool Works Inc. here.

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW): $44.91

Shares of this investment brokerage and asset management company were sold by 2 insiders:

• Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 625,000 shares for $44.82, generating $28.01 million from the sale. 225,000 of these shares were sold indirectly through a Limited Partnership and 400,000 of these shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
• President – CSIM Marie A. Chandoha sold 7,000 shares for $45.59, generating $319,150 from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for The Charles Schwab Corporation here.

2. WABCO Holdings Inc. (WBC): $150.24

Chairman of the Board and CEO Jacques Esculier sold 172,394 shares of this auto parts company for $151.24, generating $26,073,662 from the sale. 82,394 of 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 WABCO Holdings Inc. here.

3. Philip Morris International Inc. (PM): $105.94

Director Louis C. Camilleri sold 108,979 shares of this cigarettes company for $108.38, generating $11.81 million from the sale.

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

4. Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (PNFP): $67.25

Shares of this regional bank were sold by 5 insiders:

• Chairman Robert A. McCabe Jr. sold 70,000 shares for $67.23, generating $4.71 million from the sale.
• Chairman-Carolinas & Virginia Richard D. Callicutt sold 30,000 shares for $67.44, generating $2.02 million from the sale.
• EVP & CFO Harold R. Carpenter sold 17,711 shares for $67.45, generating $1.19 million from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Director Thomas R. Sloan sold 10,000 shares for $67.25, generating $672,500 from the sale.
• Vice Chairman Ronald L. Samuel sold 3,000 shares for $67.28, generating $201,840 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. here.

5. eBay Inc. (EBAY): $36.8

Shares of eBay were sold by 3 insiders:

• SVP, GC & Secretary Marie Oh Huber sold 72,417 shares for $37.53, generating $2.72 million from the sale.
• SVP, Chief People Officer Kristin A. Yetto sold 70,398 shares for $37.53, generating $2.64 million from the sale.
• SVP, Chief Technology Officer Stephen Fisher sold 69,406 shares for $37.63, generating $2.61 million from the sale.

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

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

Disclaimer: I hold a long position in General Motors (GM). Please do your own due diligence before buying or selling any securities mentioned in this article. We do not warrant the completeness or accuracy of the content or data provided in this article.

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