CubeSmart (CUBE) and Raymond James Financial Inc. (RJF) Register Notable Insider Selling, Plus Insider Buying at Three Companies

Heavy insider buying usually implies corporate insiders are bullish on their company’s future prospects, or they find their company’s shares severely undervalued by Mr. Market. In fact, past research finds that insider purchases tend to earn an abnormal return of more than 6% per year, which represents a strong argument in favor of keeping track of insider buying activity.

However, retail investors monitoring insider trading behavior need to keep in mind that insiders are restricted from engaging in “short-swing” transactions, which simply means that insiders cannot perform opposing transactions within a six-month period (e.g. buying 10,000 shares and then selling shares within a five-day timeframe). Hence, one could easily come to the conclusion that insider trading metrics are mostly suitable for long-term-oriented investors, as Board members and executives are indirectly forced to act as long-term investors. Insider Monkey compiles lists of noteworthy insider transactions on daily basis, thus enabling retail investors to find attractive investment opportunities based on insider trading metrics. Without further ado, let’s proceed to the discussion of notable insider trading activity recently observed at five companies.

Through extensive research that covered the portfolios of several hundred large investors between 1999 and 2012, we determined that following the small-cap stocks that large money managers are collectively bullish on, can generate monthly returns nearly 1.0 percentage points above the market (see the details here).

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CEO of Growing Provider of HCM and Workplace Management Software Solutions Buys Shares

Let’s kick off our discussion by looking into the insider buying registered at Asure Software Inc. (NASDAQ:ASUR). Chief Executive Officer Patrick Goepel snapped up 50,000 shares on Friday at a cost of $5.29 per share, lifting his overall holding to 650,097 shares.

The provider of human capital management and workplace management software solutions has seen the value of its shares rise by 19% since the beginning of 2016. Asure Software Inc. (NASDAQ:ASUR) currently offers two main product lines, AsureSpace and AsureForce. The first product line provides workplace management solutions that enable organizations to manage their office environments and optimize real estate utilization, while the other product line offers time and labor management solutions. The company’s revenue for the first half of 2016 was $16.39 million, up 21.5% year-on-year. AsureSpace revenue for the first two quarters of 2016 grew 5.1% year-over-year to $8.44 million, while AsureForce revenue jumped an impressive 45.5% year-on-year to $7.95 million. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies LLC had 255,476 shares of Asure Software Inc. (NASDAQ:ASUR) in its portfolio at the end of June.

The next two pages of the article will discuss several noteworthy insider transactions observed at four other companies.

Board Member of Independent Power Company Snaps Up New Stake

One Board member of Pattern Energy Group Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGI) acquired a new stake in the company this past week. The Lord Browne of Madingley, member of the company’s Board of Directors since October 2013, purchased a new stake of 10,000 Class A shares on Wednesday at a price tag of $23.89 each.

The shares of the independent power company have gained 17% thus far in 2016. As of the end of the second quarter, Pattern Energy Group Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGI) holds interests in 17 wind power projects located in the United States, Canada and Chile, which collectively have an owned capacity of 2,554 megawatt (MW). In mid-August, the company announced it was discussing to acquire a 90 MW-interest in the 180 MW Armow Wind power facility in Ontario. Pattern Energy plans to fund the acquisition with capital raised from a recent equity offering. Adage Capital Management, founded by Phillip Gross and Robert Atchinson, acquired a 216,941-share stake in Pattern Energy Group Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGI) during the June quarter.

Director at Developer and Operator of Seawater Desalination Plants Purchases Shares

A member of Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ:CWCO)’s boardroom also boosted his ownership in the company last week. Board member Richard L. Finlay snatched up 10,000 units of common stock on Wednesday at prices varying from $12.64 to $12.75 per unit. After the recent transaction, Mr. Finlay currently holds an ownership stake of 33,493 shares. The stake includes 402 shares acquired under the company’s dividend reinvestment plan.

Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ:CWCO), which uses reverse osmosis technology to produce potable water from seawater, has seen its market capitalization jump by 5% since the start of the year. The company’s total revenues for the June quarter grew to $15.40 million from $14.49 million recorded in the same period of the prior year. In late August, Consolidated Water’s Board of Directors approved a cash dividend of $0.075 per share, which yields 2.33% annually. There were a mere three hedge fund firms followed by Insider Monkey invested in the designer and operator of seawater reverse osmosis desalination plans at the end of the April-to-June quarter. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies LLC owns 382,800 shares of Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ:CWCO) as of the end of June.

The final page of this insider trading article will discuss fresh insider selling recorded at two other companies.

Board Member of Self-Storage Real Estate Company Offloads Shares

Let’s move on to the set of noteworthy insider selling transactions reported with the U.S. SEC on Friday. Marianne M. Keler, member of CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE)’s Board of Directors, discarded 40,000 shares on Wednesday at a price of $27.50 per share, cutting her ownership to 44,418 shares.

The integrated self-storage real estate company focused on the operation, development, leasing and management of self-storage facilities has seen its market cap fall by nearly 9% since the beginning of January. CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) owns 464 self-storage facilities that have around 32.0 million rentable square feet. The company’s rental income for the three months that ended June 30 increased to $111.5 million from $96.8 million, reflecting an increase in average occupancy of 80 basis points and higher rental rates. A total number of 17 smart money investors from our system had long positions in CubeSmart at the end of the second quarter, amassing around 5% of the company’s common stock. George Hall’s Clinton Group had 631,066 shares of CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) among its holdings on June 30.

Top Executives at Raymond James Financial Discard Shares

Two influential members of Raymond James Financial Inc. (NYSE:RJF)’s executive team discarded several sizable blocks of shares last week. To start with, Jeffery P. Julien, Executive Vice President of Finance, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, liquidated 18,600 shares on Thursday at prices that fell between $57.57 and $57.66 per share. Following the recent sale, Mr. Julien currently holds 46,407 shares. Chief Operating Officer Dennis William Zank discarded 10,010 shares last Monday at prices ranging from $57.55 to $57.76 per share, which trimmed his overall ownership to 148,369 shares.

The well-known financial services and bank holding company has enjoyed a great run in terms of stock performance since early February, as its shares are up an impressive 26% in the past six months. Although Raymond James Financial Inc. (NYSE:RJF)’s shares are down a little less than 1% year-to-date, the high stock performance observed over the past several months possibly justifies the recent jump in insider selling. The company’s net revenues for the June quarter grew 3% year-on-year to $1.36 billion, reflecting positive performance in each of its four operating segments. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management reported ownership of 1.59 million shares of Raymond James Financial Inc. (NYSE:RJF) through the latest round of 13Fs.

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