Alcoa Inc. (AA) Registers Insider Buying after Kicking Off Q2 Earnings Season; Plus Insider Trading at Four Other Companies

All major U.S. stock indexes recorded their third straight week of gains, recovering after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit another record close on Friday, gaining 2% for the week. Strong U.S. economic data and increasing expectations that central banks would stick to their stimulatory monetary policies for longer pushed U.S. equities to new all-time highs.

Moving on to the main topic of this article, last week’s dollar volume of insider buying accounted for a mere 14% of the dollar volume registered in the previous week. As U.S. equities were heading to new all-time highs and the second-quarter earnings season kicked off with the release of Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA)’s earnings report, insiders were somewhat reluctant to buy shares in their own companies. Meanwhile, last week’s volume of insider selling increased week-over-week, so the ratio of insider selling over buying increased massively as compared to the ratio registered for the previous week. In fact, last week’s insider selling-to-buying ratio stood at 90.7-to-1, implying that insiders sold almost $91 worth of shares for each $1 worth of shares bought. Having this in mind, let’s have a look at several noteworthy insider transactions recorded with the SEC on Friday.

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This High-Yielding REIT’s CEO Buys Some Shares

From the looks of it, Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc. (REIT) (NYSE:RHP) registered the most noteworthy insider buying of last week. Chairman and CEO Colin V. Reed purchased 7,377 shares on Friday at a price tag of $53.44 each, lifting his direct ownership stake to 1.02 million shares. This stake includes 533,289 shares credited to Mr. Reed’s supplemental executive retirement plan (SERP) account.

The real estate investment trust specializing in destination hotel assets in urban and resort markets has seen the value of its stock gain 4% since the start of the year. Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc. (REIT) (NYSE:RHP)’s owned assets include a network of four upscale resorts managed by Marriott International Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR) under the Gaylord Hotels brand. The REIT plans to pay a quarterly cash dividend of $0.75 per share in July, October and January, with this quarterly dividend payment yielding an impressive 5.58% annually. Gilchrist Berg’s Water Street Capital was the owner of 1.01 million shares of Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc. (REIT) (NYSE:RHP) at the end of March.

The next two pages of this article will reveal noteworthy insider activity registered at four other companies.

Electrical Equipment Manufacturer Registers Insider Buying after Earnings Release

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) also registered mild insider buying this past week. Board member Wallace P. Eisman snatched up 1,000 shares on Friday at $62.27 apiece. After the recent purchase, Mr. Eisman currently owns 4,641 AZZ shares.

The insider buying comes a few weeks after the provider of galvanizing services, welding solutions, specialty electrical equipment and highly engineered services released its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2017 ending May 31. AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)’s revenue for its energy segment increased by less than 1% year-on-year to $138.1 million, partially driven by the acquisition of Maryland-based manufacturer and integrator of electrical enclosure systems Power Electronics Inc. in early March. The company’s revenues for the galvanizing segment climbed 13.8% year-over-year to $104.6 million, mainly due to the acquisitions of US Galvanizing LLC and Alpha Galvanizing Inc. in June of 2015 and early February of 2016, respectively. AZZ shares are 12% in the green thus far in 2016. Steven Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management acquired a new stake o 100,700 shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) during the March quarter.

Aluminium Giant Sees Two Corporate Insiders Purchase Shares

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) had two corporate insiders pile up shares this past week, so one may anticipate more companies to register insider buying post-earnings as Alcoa officially kicked off the second-quarter earnings season. Sir Martin S. Sorrell, a member of the company’s boardroom, bought 1,990 shares on Wednesday at a weighted average cost of $10.74, lifting his ownership to 36,146 shares. Ratan N. Tata, Alcoa’s Director since 2007, snapped up 2,045 shares on the very same day at an average price of $10.73. Following the recent purchase, Mr. Tata currently owns 62,546 shares.

Japanese aluminium products makers are increasing output capacity in the United States in an attempt to gain market share as automakers are turning to auluminium over steel to meet stricter environmental rules. The boost in capacity will intensify competition with aluminium giant Alcoa, which is currently in the process of separating into two independent companies. Alcoa shares are up 10% so far in 2016. Beech Hill Partners, overseen by its President and CEO Paul Cantor, upped its stake in Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) by 19% during the June quarter to 72,690 shares.

The final page of this article will reveal fresh insider selling registered at two other companies.

Designer of Men’s Sportswear Witnesses Two Top-Tier Insiders Sell Shares

Perry Ellis International Inc. (NASDAQ:PERY) saw two of its most informed and influential insiders unload shares this past week. To start with, George Feldenkreis, Executive Chairman of the Board, discarded 20,000 shares on Thursday for $22.05 each, cutting his direct ownership stake to 1.67 million shares. More importantly, President and CEO Oscar Feldenkreis sold 25,000 shares on the same day at $21.97 apiece, all of which were held by the Oscar Feldenkreis Revocable Trust that currently owns 927,235 shares. The CEO also holds a direct ownership stake of 128,540 shares.

The shares of the designer and distributor of a broad line of men’s and women’s apparel, accessories and fragrances have gained 19% since the beginning of 2016. Perry Ellis International Inc. (NASDAQ:PERY)’s men’s sportswear and swim net sales for the three months that ended April 30 were $197.9 million, down 0.3% year-on-year. Meanwhile, the company’s women’s sportswear net sales fell by 16.2% year-on-year to $32.5 million, mainly due to the sale of its C&C California brand. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies owned 340,900 shares of Perry Ellis International Inc. (NASDAQ:PERY) at the end of March.

Contracting Services Specialist Has Several Insiders Jettison Shares

Dycom Industries Inc. (NYSE:DY) had several insiders discard shares last week. Kimberly L. Dickens, Chief Human Resources Officer and Vice President, sold 1,661 shares on Wednesday at an average price of $95.87, cutting her stake to 5,439 shares. Ms. Dickens sold the shares to purchase a new primary residence, according to a SEC filing. Timothy R. Estes, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President, discarded 10,000 shares on the next day at prices varying from $95.95 to $96.11 per share, trimming his ownership stake to 233,812 shares.

The provider of specialty contracting services throughout the U.S. and Canada has seen its market value jump by 35% since the beginning of the year. Earlier this month, Dycom Industries Inc. (NYSE:DY) completed the acquisition of certain telecom-related assets of Goodman Networks Incorporated for $107.5 million in cash. Those assets were used in the wireless network deployment and wireline businesses of Goodman. William Harnisch’s Peconic Partners LLC had 1.92 million shares of Dycom Industries Inc. (NYSE:DY) in its portfolio on March 31.

Disclosure: None