Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) Sees Freshly-Resigned CEO Offload Shares, Plus Notable Insider Buying at Four Other Companies

Insider buying usually means corporate insiders are bullish on their company’s future prospects. Furthermore, past research finds that insider purchases earn an abnormal return of more than 6% per year, so it does make sense to keep track of insider buying.

Retail investors monitoring insider trading behavior should keep in mind that insiders are prohibited from “short-swing” transactions, which represent a purchase and a sale of company stock within a six-month period. This means insider trading metrics are suitable for longer-term-oriented investors only, as Board members and executives are somewhat forced to act as long-term value investors. But how can investors find information-rich insider buying activity? Literally anyone could get the insider trading information for each publicly traded company on the SEC website, but it may be time consuming to search through thousands of companies out there. Insider Monkey compiles lists of noteworthy insider trading on daily basis, so one can save a great deal of time by simply subscribing to our daily newsletters. That said, let’s proceed to the discussion of notable insider trading activity recently registered at five companies.

Academic research has shown that certain insider purchases historically outperformed the market by an average of seven percentage points per year. This effect is more pronounced in small-cap stocks. Another exception is the small-cap stock picks of hedge funds. Our research has shown that imitating the 15 most popular small-cap stocks among hedge funds outperformed the market by nearly a percentage point per month between 1999 and 2012 (read more details here).

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Struggling Home-Furnishings Retailer Sees CEO Buy Massive Block of Shares

Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc. (NYSE:RH) registered one of the most notable insider purchases in the stock market in recent weeks, so let’s find out who stands the company’s recent insider buying. Chairman and CEO Gary G. Friedman purchased 32,918 shares on Friday at prices varying from $27.26 to $28.05 per share. After the sizable purchase, Mr. Friedman currently owns a stake of 2.21 million shares.

The high-end home-furnishings retailer has lost 62% of its market value since the beginning of 2016, partially owing to mixed financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2016 that ended April 30 and disappointing guidance for its second fiscal quarter. Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc. (NYSE:RH) has been struggling to ramp up production in response to massive demand for its freshly-introduced RH Modern furniture line. In March, the company also introduced the RH Grey Card program, a $100-a-year membership program that offers card holders a 25% discount on RH products. Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management owned 599,300 shares of Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc. (NYSE:RH) at the end of March.

The next two pages of this insider trading article will reveal notable insider transactions observed at four other companies.

Newly-Appointed CFO of This Armored-Car Company Initiates New Position

Brink’s Company (NYSE:BCO) also registered some insider buying this past week, a kind of insider buying some investors are inclined to ignore. Ronald J. Domanico, who joined Brink’s as Chief Financial Officer earlier this month, snapped up a new stake of 16,744 shares on Thursday at a price tag of $29.86 each in a private transaction with the company at a price equal to the closing price of the company’s stock on that day. Mr. Domanico was also awarded 4,714 restricted stock units on the same day. Although this insider buying falls into the “must do” category, it still represents a positive sign for investors.

The fresh insider buying comes a month after a new CEO took the helm of the armored-car company. Newly-appointed CEO Douglas Pertz replaced George Stoeckert, who served as interim CEO after former CEO Thomas C. Schevelbein stepped down as part of a settlement agreement with Jeffrey Smith’s Starboard Value LP in January. Under the terms of the agreement, the provider of transportation and logistics management services offered the activist hedge fund three seats on its boardroom. Starboard Value LP had 4.58 million shares of Brink’s Company (NYSE:BCO) in its portfolio on March 31.

Specialty Retailer of Fragrances Registers Insider Buying

Perfumania Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PERF) had not witnessed any insiders buy shares for a few years until last week. Long-serving Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Donna L. Dellomo, snatched up a new stake of 2,000 shares on Friday at a cost of $2.41 per share. Although the size of this purchase is not overly significant, the timing of the purchase may represent an attractive entry point for investors.

The vertically integrated specialty retailer and distributor of fragrances and related beauty products has seen the value of its stock plunge by 57% over the past 12 months. Perfumania Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PERF)’s net sales for the three months that ended April 30 were $105.14 million, down 18% compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2015. Perfumania’s comparable store sales dropped 14.5% year-over-year due to lower mall traffic. Meanwhile, the company’s net loss widened to $6.41 million from a net loss of $0.17 million recorded a year ago. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Advisors LLC acquired a new stake of 12,473 shares of Perfumania Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PERF) during the March quarter.

The final page of this article discloses the insider trading activity recorded at two companies last week.

Maker of Impact-Resistant Tablet Computers Registers More Insider Buying

Xplore Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:XPLR) saw one of its most informed executives pile up shares this past week. Mark Holleran, President and Chief Operating Officer, bought 2,000 shares last Monday at a weighted average price of $2.36 per share. After the not-so-distant purchase, Mr. Holleran currently owns 439,018 shares.

The shares of the Austin-based maker of impact-resistant tablet computers are down 58% since the beginning of the year. Xplore Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:XPLR) recently reported record revenue of $100.5 million for fiscal 2016 that ended March 31, up from $42.6 million posted for fiscal 2015. However, the world’s second-largest provider of rugged tables posted a GAAP net loss of $0.03 per share, missing analysts’ estimates of net income of $0.08 per share. The company has to defend its market share amid strong competition from Panasonic, the largest provider of mobile rugged computers, and other industry competitors. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies LLC had 33,500 shares of Xplore Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:XPLR) in its portfolio at the end of the first quarter.

Former CEO of This Carrier Sells Massive Block of Shares

Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL) recorded a massive insider sale this past week, so let’s have a brief look at the company’s fresh insider selling. Richard H. Anderson, who retired as CEO of Atlanta-based Delta and became Executive Chairman of the company’s Board, sold 608,000 freshly-exercised stock options on Friday at prices that fell between $39.89 and $40.44 per share. Mr. Anderson also reported the sale of 150,000 shares on the same day at prices ranging from $39.00 to $39.97 per share, all of which were owned by his wife. After the recent transactions, the freshly-retired CEO currently holds a direct ownership stake of 135,827 shares.

The second-largest airline in the United States by traffic has seen the value of its shares decline by 21% since the start of 2016. Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL)’s stock performance has been weighted by the deadly terror attack in Nice, France earlier this month, as well as disappointing revenue guidance for the September quarter. The carrier anticipates passenger unit revenue to decline in the range of 4%-to-6% for the September quarter. Delta Air Lines also plans to reduce its U.S.-U.K capacity on its winter schedule due to a steep decline in the British pound and mounting economic uncertainty around the imminent Brexit. Ray Carroll’s Breton Hill Capital acquired a new stake of 22,087 shares of Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL) during the June quarter.

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