Eldest Son of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) Founder Makes Charitable Gift; Eye-catching Insider Selling at Regal Entertainment Group (RGC) and Flowers Foods Inc. (FLO)

Strong Performing Motion Picture Exhibitor Sees Two Executive Sell Shares in June

Two executives at Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE:RGC) trimmed their equity holdings thus far this June. To start with, Peter B. Brandow, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, discarded 49,024 Class A shares on Wednesday at prices that ranged from $21.50 to $21.52 per share, cutting his overall holding to 219,028 shares. In mid-June, Gregory W. Dunn, President and Chief Operating Officer, sold 25,000 Class A shares at prices that fell between $20.26 and $20.32 per share. After the not-so-distant sale, Mr. Dunn currently holds an ownership stake of 104,916 shares.

The leading motion picture exhibitor operating one of the largest theatre circuits in the United States has seen the value of its shares increase by 16% since the beginning of 2016. Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE:RGC)’s theatre circuit consists of 7,329 screens in 567 theatres in 42 states across the nation along with Guam, Saipan, American Samoa and the District of Columbia. The company’s total admission revenues for the first quarter of 2016 were $515.7 million, up $61.6 million year-over-year. The increase in admission revenues, which accounted for nearly 66% of the company’s top line in the first quarter, was driven by a 7.9% increase in average ticket prices, as well as a 5.3% increase in attendance. The increase Regal Entertainment’s admissions revenues on a per screen basis was slightly higher than the industry’s per screen results for the first three months of 2016.

There were 17 hedge funds tracked by our team with long positions in the motion picture exhibitor at the end of March, as compared to 18 registered at the end of December. Bernard Horn’s Polaris Capital Management upped its position in Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE:RGC) by 30% during the March quarter to 1.10 million shares.

Leading Packaged Bread Producer Registers Insider Selling amid a Flurry of Lawsuits

Flowers Foods Inc. (NYSE:FLO) has seen four different insiders sell shares so far in June, so let’s take a quick look at the most recent insider selling activity. Karyl H. Lauder, Chief Accounting Officer and Senior Vice President, offloaded 23,500 shares on Monday at prices ranging from $17.98 to $17.94 per share. Following the recent transaction, Mr. Lauder currently owns 132,851 shares.

The second-largest packaged bread producer in the United States has seen its market value plunge by nearly 14% since the start of 2016. At the end of May, analysts at boutique investment bank KeyBanc Capital Markets initiated coverage on Flowers Foods Inc. (NYSE:FLO) with a “Sector Weight”, saying that the company may be out-of-favor among investors due to a mix of industry sluggishness, competition and headline risk even though its valuation seems attractive compared to industry peers. The bakery that owns Wonder Bread, Nature’s Own and Tastykake brands, has been sued earlier this year by truck drivers who claimed their were improperly classified as independent contractors. Precisely, the lawsuits allege that the company wrongly classified drivers on its delivery routes as contractors. Hence, truck drivers seek payment for overtime, employee benefits and other compensation, which may put some weight on the company’s bottom line.

The number of asset managers from our system with long positions in the bakery fell to 17 from 21 during the first quarter of 2016. Those money managers amassed 4% of the company’s outstanding shares. Ric Dillon’s Diamond Hill Capital was the owner of 3.57 million shares of Flowers Foods Inc. (NYSE:FLO) at the end of March.

Disclosure: None