According to our research, stocks with multiple insider purchases outperformed the market by an average of 7 percentage points per year. Over the first two days of this week, a few small-cap companies saw several of their insiders acquire their stock. Let’s look into some of the most interesting transactions.
Energy XXI (Bermuda) Limited (NASDAQ:EXXI) is a $1.7 billion market cap energy company, engaged in the acquisition, development, exploration and production of oil and natural gas reserves in the U.S. Gulf Coast and the Gulf of Mexico, which witnessed 6 insider purchases on Monday. The company’s Chairman and CEO, John Schiller; CFO, David Griffin West; COO, Ben Marchive; and three Executive Vice Presidents from different sectors of the company purchased 1,058 shares each under the Employee Stock Purchase Plan.*
Following these transactions, Energy XXI (Bermuda) Limited (NASDAQ:EXXI)’s CEO owns 1.22 million shares directly, and more than 17.77 million shares, indirectly; Mr. Marchive, COO, now holds 127,389 shares directly and more than 11.28 million shares indirectly; and Mr. Griffin West, CFO, 193,894 shares, directly, and more than 10.1 million, indirectly.
In addition to these insiders, several major hedge funds seem to like , Energy XXI (Bermuda) Limited (NASDAQ:EXXI). Mark Mcgoldrick And Jason Maynard’s Mount Kellett Capital Management owns 5.92 million shares of the company, worth more than $139 million, while Jeffrey Tannenbaum’s Fir tree last declared ownership of 4.815 million shares.
Another company that saw massive insider activity is Nextera Energy Partners LP (NYSE:NEP), a $3.2 billion market cap clean energy projects owner and operator that went public last week. The company priced its initial public offering, of approximately 16.3 million common units, at $25 per share, on the upper end of the projected range of $23 to $25 per share.
Starting on June 27, Nextera Energy Partners LP (NYSE:NEP)’s first day as a publicly traded company, nine insiders acquired the stock. The biggest buyer was James L. Robo, Chairman, President and CEO of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE), Nextera Energy Partners LP (NYSE:NEP)’s parent company. Mr. Robo acquired 143,576 for a total of $4.11 million, having paid $25 per share for 73,576 Common Units Representing Limited Partner Interests (RLPI), and $32.55 for 70,000 Common Units RLPI.
Last in this list is Accelerate Diagnostics Inc (NASDAQ:AXDX), a $1.18 billion market cap rapid diagnosis system developer. On Monday, two large shareholders acquired the company’s stock. Jack Schuler, also a Board Director at Accelerate Diagnostics Inc (NASDAQ:AXDX), purchased 10,000 shares for $26.09 per share, increasing his holdings to 10.649 million shares. In addition, Larry Feinberg spent more than half a million dollars in stock; he bought 20,000 shares of common stock at $25.72 per share. He now holds more than 5.38 million shares of the company.
On top of these insiders, Cliff Asness (AQR Capital Management) last declared having doubled his stake in Accelerate Diagnostics Inc (NASDAQ:AXDX). His fund now owns 35,539 shares of the company.
* The Plan “allows employees to purchase common stock at a 15 percent discount from the lower of the common stock closing price on the first or last day of the period. This period was from January 1, 2014 through June 30, 2014” (SEC).
Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no position in any stocks or funds mentioned
