Insiders Are Dumping Shares of These 3 Companies; Should Investors Be Worried?

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. (NYSE:SKT) has seen four different executives unload shares so far this week. Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer James F. Williams sold 6,000 shares on Thursday at a weighted average sale price of $35.15, reducing his holdings to 63,003 shares. Frank C. Marchisello, who has been Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President since November 1994, unloaded a 25,000-share block through multiple transactions at prices ranging between $35.03-and-$35.43 per share. The CFO currently owns 309,304 shares. Senior Vice President Virginia R. Summerell discarded 4,216 shares of common stock on Monday at an average price of $35.33, reducing her stake to 26,648 shares. Last but not least, Carrie A. Geldner, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. (NYSE:SKT), dumped 1,300 share on Tuesday at prices ranging from $35.24-to-$35.25. After the recent sale, the CMO holds a 50,548-share stake. Despite being down by nearly 5% year-to-date, the shares of the real estate investment trust have been on a steep uptrend since the beginning of September. 15 hedge funds monitored by Insider Monkey owned Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. (NYSE:SKT) at the end of the second quarter, with Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies being among the most bullish, holding a 1.39 million-share position.

Finally, let’s take a thorough look at the insider selling activity at Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE:XEL). David Eves, President of Xcel’s Public Service Company Colorado (PSCo), offloaded 6,698 shares on Tuesday, trimming his stake to 54,762 shares. He also holds 7,252 shares under the Xcel Energy 401(k) Savings Plan. The shares of the well-diversified electric and natural gas utility company are half-a-percent in the green year-to-date and are trading at a trailing P/E ratio of 20.06, slightly below the median of 22.65 for the S&P 500. Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE:XEL) intends to add batteries to its grid system in an attempt to store renewable energy, which could eventually allow the company to deliver energy power whenever needed. Let us remind you that the EPA issued the final Clean Power Plan recently, which will force utilities to undertake major adjustments and investments over the coming years in order to reduce carbon emissions. However, Xcel Energy believes that it is “well-positioned to meet the requirements and remains committed to delivering the clean energy options our customers want”. Meanwhile, the stock lost some of its charm among the hedge funds tracked by our team during the second quarter, as the number of top money managers invested in the stock decreased to ten from 19 quarter-over-quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management owned 5.21 million shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE:XEL) at the end of the second quarter.

Disclosure: None