Harris & Harris Group Inc. (TINY), Hallador Energy Co (HNRG) and OFG Bancorp (OFG) Register Mild Insider Buying

Hallador Energy Co (NASDAQ:HNRG) saw its top executives purchase shares over the past several days. To start with, Victor P. Stabio, Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors, purchased 3,000 shares on Friday at $4.43 apiece, increasing his overall ownership stake to 292,887 shares. Mr. Stabio owns 39,180 shares through the Stabio Family Trust and 253,707 shares individually. Moreover, President and Chief Executive Officer Brent K. Bilsland acquired 6,000 shares on Friday and Monday, all of which are owned by Mr. Bilsland’s three children. The Form 4 filing shows that each of Mr. Bilsland’s children own exactly 16,480 shares. As revealed in previous filings, the CEO also holds a direct ownership stake of 609,251 shares.

Hallador Energy represents a microcap Indiana-based coal producer that has seen its shares decline by 63% in the past year. The largest share of the company’s business is focused on coal mining in the State of Indiana through Sunrise Coal LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary that serves the electric power generation industry. More than 80% of the company’s coal sales were associated with customers that have large coal-fired power plants in the State of Indiana, so the company has a competitive edge over rivals with respect to those customers, given that Hallador Energy’s mines and coal reserves are located in close proximity to its primary customers (which reduces transportation costs). Hallador Energy sold 7.45 million tons in 2015 at an average price of $45.59 per ton, compared to 5.40 million tons at an average price of $43.33 per ton in 2014. Nonetheless, concerns over high coal inventories and low natural gas prices have put significant weight on the company’s shares in recent quarters. Hallador Energy expects to generate $40 million of free cash flow in 2016, which will most likely be used to strengthen the company’s balance sheet. Nonetheless, it is important to note that this figure represents only 55% of the company’s overall capacity, so Hallador might represent a great buying opportunity should the market recover. The number of money managers in our system with stakes in the coal producer declined to six from nine during the fourth quarter. Jeffrey Bronchick’s Cove Street Capital had 323,582 shares of Hallador Energy Co (NASDAQ:HNRG) at the end of 2015.

Last but not least, OFG Bancorp (NYSE:OFG) had one member of its Board of Directors buy shares this past week. Director Rafael F. Martinez-Margarida purchased 7,000 shares on Friday at $6.99 apiece, boosting his direct ownership stake to 15,341 shares. OFC Bancorp is a publicly-owned financial holding company that provides various banking and financial services through its subsidiaries. The company’s main subsidiary, Oriental Bank, is a full-service Puerto Rico-based commercial bank that has 48 branches throughout the country.

OFG Bancorp mainly operates its business through three segments: Banking, Wealth Management, and Treasury. The holding company had roughly $415 million of credit facilities granted to the Puerto Rican government, as well as its public corporations and municipalities at the end of 2015. The company’s net interest income for 2015 decreased to $337.37 million from $408.48 million in 2014. The decrease was mainly driven by lower balances in its acquired loan portfolios and lower yields in the company’s originated loan portfolio. The decrease also includes a $9.7 million decline in interest income from loans to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), which was placed in non-accrual in the third quarter of 2015, and Puerto Rico Aqueducts and Sewer Authority (PRASA), which was paid off in the second quarter of 2015.

Shares of OFG Bancorp are down by 59% in the past 12 months, including a decline of 8% in 2016. The company pays out an annualized dividend of $0.24 per share, which equates to a dividend yield of 3.59%. There were 11 hedge funds monitored by Insider Monkey with stakes in the financial holding company at the end of December, compared to 13 registered at the end of the third quarter. Thomas G. Maheras’ Tegean Capital Management reported ownership of 1.18 million shares of OFG Bancorp (NYSE:OFG) through its 13F filing for the fourth quarter.

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