Insider Trading Alert: Noteworthy Transactions at Comcast Corporation (CMCSA), Dr Pepper (DPS) and 3 Other Companies

Research shows that insider purchases tend to outperform broader market gauges by a wide margin, which is why insider trading indicators continue to receive strong attention from the investment community. Indeed, insider buying is relatively straightforward to interpret, considering there’s only one prime objective for purchasing shares. Conversely, insider selling is more complicated to interpret, especially due to the increased usage of equity-based compensation packages. It is impossible to know the exact reason each director or executive sells shares on the open market, which makes us believe that clusters of insider selling represent much more informative indicators that can be used in one’s stock analysis process. Insider Monkey processed the majority of Form 4 filings submitted with the SEC on Wednesday and identified five companies with either noteworthy insider purchases and sales.

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).

This Struggling Potash Producer’s CEO Buys Massive Block of Shares

Intrepid Potash Inc. (NYSE:IPI)’s Executive Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Robert P. Jornayvaz III, filed Wednesday to disclose the purchase of 338,761 shares of the company he leads, at prices that ranged from $1.14 to $1.40 per share. The freshly-acquired block of shares is held by Intrepid Production Corporation, of which Mr. Jornayvaz is the sole stockholder, sole director, and President. The CEO currently holds a direct ownership stake of 109,863 shares, as well as an indirect ownership stake of 11.69 million shares held by Intrepid Production Corporation.

The only U.S producer of muriate of potash has seen its market value plummet by a massive 89% over the past 12 months, as oversupply and foreign competition in the U.S potash market has put significant pressure on prices. Intrepid Potash Inc. (NYSE:IPI)’s average net realized potash sales price decreased to $216 per ton in the first quarter of this year, a significant dip from the $362 per ton which that figure stood at for the first quarter of 2015. Earlier this month, the company announced plans to idle operations at its West mine, a conventional mining facility in New Mexico that generated 42% of the company’s potash production in 2015. Royce & Associates, founded by Chuck Royce, cut its stake in Intrepid Potash Inc. (NYSE:IPI) by 13% during the March quarter, to 1.29 million shares.

Let’s move on to the next two pages of this daily insider trading article, where we will discuss noteworthy insider trading activity registered at four other companies.

Top Executive at Iconix Brand Group Buys Sizable Block of Shares

The Executive Chairman of Iconix Brand Group Inc. (NASDAQ:ICON), F. Peter Cuneo, bought a 50,000-share block on Monday at prices between $7.94 and $8.00 per share. After the aforementioned sizable purchase, Mr. Cuneo owns a stake of 310,838 shares.

Iconix Brand Group operates as a brand management company that owns a portfolio of more than 35 global consumer brands across several industry segments. The company’s business operations focus on the monetization of the Intellectual Property related to its brands. Iconix Brand Group Inc. (NASDAQ:ICON)’s total licensing revenue for the first quarter reached $94.6 million, down from $95.8 million recorded for the same quarter of 2015. The top-line figure was impacted by a $1 million decrease due to the sale of the Badgley Mischka brand in February for $13.8 million in cash. The shares of the brand management company have gained 14% since the beginning of 2016, but are down by 71% over the past 52 weeks. David Keidan’s Buckingham Capital Management acquired a stake of 570,000 shares of Iconix Brand Group Inc. (NASDAQ:ICON) during the March quarter.

The Most Informed and Influential Executives at Heritage Insurance Bought Shares This Week

To begin with, Heritage Insurance Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRTG)’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Bruce Lucas, snapped up 18,500 shares on Monday at prices that fell between $13.10 and $13.58 per share, pushing the CEO’s direct ownership stake to 794,655 shares. Mr. Lucas also owns 122,020 shares indirectly through IIM Holdings LLC and IIM Holdings II LLC, as well as 494,612 shares through the Alec Lucas Trust. Stephen L. Rohde, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary, purchased 3,000 units of common stock on the same day for $13.40 each, boosting his ownership to 22,996 shares.

The heavy insider buying comes after the property and casualty insurance firm released a disappointing first quarter earnings report on May 5, which reflected the worst tornado losses in the company’s history. At the end of March, Heritage Insurance Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRTG) acquired specialty property insurance provider Zephyr, which provides windstorm-hurricane insurance policies for residential customers in Hawaii. The stock is now priced at 4.5-times expected earnings after sliding by 39% this year, significantly below the forward P/E multiple of 12.5 for the property and casualty insurance sector. Robert B. Gillam’s McKinley Capital Management reported ownership of 201,800 shares of Heritage Insurance Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRTG) as of March 31.

The Man in Charge of Comcast Unloaded a Sizable Block of Shares This Week

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA)’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brian L. Roberts, discarded 200,000 shares on Tuesday at prices that ranged between $62.55 and $62.72 per share, cutting his direct ownership stake to 725,224 shares. Mr. Roberts also owns an indirect ownership stake of nearly 8.00 million shares, which are held by his spouse, trust funds, and other entities.

The global media and technology company primarily operates two businesses: Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal. The latter is a leading media and entertainment company which was recently strengthened by the $3.8 billion acquisition of Dreamworks Animation Skg Inc. (NASDAQ:DWA). The shareholders of the target company, known for its highly popular animated films such as Shrek, Madagascar, and Kung Fu Panda, will receive $41 in cash for each share they own of DreamWorks. Comcast shares are nearly 10% in the green thus far in 2016. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management had 12.39 million shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) in its equity portfolio at the end of March.

Dr Pepper Witnessed Some Heavy Insider Selling This Week

David Thomas, Executive Vice President of Research & Development at Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (NYSE:DPS), sold 3,000 shares on Tuesday at a weighted average price of $95.51, trimming his overall holding to 42,000 shares. Moreover, Rodger Collins, President of Packaged Beverages, discarded 100 shares on Monday and 52,290 shares on Tuesday for $95.00-to-$95.37 per share, which reduced his ownership to 81,395 shares.

The maker of Dr Pepper, Schweppes, and 7UP has seen its shares advance by 1% since the start of the year, after gaining 5% over the past three months. Soon after the company released its financial results for the first quarter, analysts at Barclays raised their price target on Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (NYSE:DPS) to $94 from $88 and reiterated their ‘Equal Weight’ rating on it, saying that the company’s allied brands continue to serve as a strong catalyst for revenue growth. David Harding’s Winton Capital Management trimmed its stake in Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (NYSE:DPS) by 91% during the March quarter, to just under 7,000 shares.

Disclosure: None