Executive at Strong-Performing Multi-State Bank Holding Company Buys Shares
One member of American National BankShares Inc. (NASDAQ:AMNB)’s executive team also purchased a small block of shares earlier this week. Ramsey K. Hamadi, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, snatched up 1,130 shares on Monday at a price tag of $34.93 each. Mr. Hamadi currently owns an aggregate of 16,692 shares after the recent purchase.
The holding company for American National Bank, a community bank serving southern and central Virginia and north central North Carolina with 26 banking offices and two loan production offices, has seen the value of its shares rise by 45% in the past year. American National BankShares Inc. (NASDAQ:AMNB) enjoyed loan portfolio growth of 15.8% in 2016, partially reflecting improvement in the local and regional economies. The multi-state bank holding company’s net income for 2016 increased to $16.30 million from $15.04 million for 2014, mainly due to lower provision for loan losses and a reduction in non-recurring merger-related expenses. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies LLC was the equity holder of 81,110 shares at the end of the third quarter.
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Insiders at Services Provider to Power Generation and Renewable Energy Markets Keep Selling Shares
The volume of insider selling at Argan Inc. (NYSE:AGX) has been steadily growing this year, though most sales were related to freshly-exercised stock options. William F. Griffin Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of its wholly-owned subsidiary Gemma Power Systems, discarded 25,000 shares on Monday at a weighted average price of $70.33 per share, which were held in the William F. Griffin Jr. Revocable Trust. Mr. Griffin currently owns an indirect ownership stake of 306,150 shares through the trust fund mentioned above. Considering the cluster of insider selling observed at Argan in early October 2016, additional insider insider selling at the company do not necessarily inspire optimism.
The shares of the provider of engineering, construction and technical services to the power generation and renewable energy markets are trading near their 52-week high of $76.70, after having gained a hefty 158% in the past year alone. Argan Inc. (NYSE:AGX)’s contract backlog increased to $1.2 billion as of the end of October from $1.1 billion as of the end of January 2016. Meanwhile, the company’s revenues for the three months that ended October jumped by 54% year-over-year to $175.4 million. While insiders have been heading for the exits, the hedge fund industry has increased its exposure to the high-flying company. The number of asset managers from our system invested in Argan rose to 17 from 13 during the third quarter. Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management added a 116,000-share stake in Argan Inc. (NYSE:AGX) to its portfolio during the third quarter.
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The final page of this article will focus on discussing insider selling at two other companies.
