Jefferies’ Parent Company and Two Other Stocks See Insiders Pile up Shares

High-Flying U.S. Oil Producer Sees CEO Buy Shares

QEP Resources Inc. (NYSE:QEP) had not seen any insiders buy shares for quite some time until this week. President and CEO Charles B. Stanley bought 16,763 shares on Thursday for roughly $17.85 each, boosting his ownership to 759,116 shares. Some of these shares are held in a trust for which Mr. Stanley and his spouse are trustees.

The shares of the independent crude oil and natural gas production company are up an impressive 31% since the beginning of 2016. Just recently, QEP Resources Inc. (NYSE:QEP) announced plans to buy 9,400 acres in the Permian Basin of Texas from unnamed sellers for $600 million, one of the most recent acquisitions in the sector as crude oil prices are settling around $50 per barrel. The deal will be partially funded with equity raised from the sale of 23 million shares through an underwritten public offering, which generated gross proceeds of roughly $413.0 million. Analysts believe that the aforementioned transaction seems to be extremely expensive, with the deal being worth approximately $64,000 an acre, while many recent deals in the region have been around $30,000 an acre. At the end of June, analysts at Fitzgerald raised their price target on the Denver-based driller to $20 from $18 and reiterated their “Buy” rating, saying that “In addition to extending the company’s Permian runway by over 50%, we are lowering our risk weighting on the company’s portfolio to 25% from 35%…”.

There were 30 asset managers followed by Insider Monkey with equity investments in the U.S. oil producer at the end of the first quarter, accumulating roughly 15% of the company’s total number of outstanding shares. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Advisors LLC was the owner of 3.18 million shares of QEP Resources Inc. (NYSE:QEP) at the end of March.

Struggling Modular Carpet Company See Top-Tier Executive Buy Shares

Interface Inc. (NASDAQ:TILE) had not registered any insider buying since late 2014 until this week. Jay Gould, President and Chief Operating Officer, snatched up 10,000 shares on Wednesday at prices varying from $14.68 to $14.88 per share. After the recent purchase, Mr. Gould currently owns 103,961 shares.

The modular carpet company has seen its market value plunge by 20% since the start of 2016, partially due to the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union. Roughly 26% of Interface Inc. (NASDAQ:TILE) revenues for the three months that ended April 3 were derived from Europe, so the company’s exposure to both Europe and the United Kingdom makes Interface vulnerable to political and economic havoc in the region. In fact, the company said its financial results were impacted by significant uncertainty in the region partially caused by the vote on the exit of the United Kingdom from the 28-member bloc. Interface posted net sales of $222.55 million for the quarter that ended April 3, down from $236.90 million recorded a year ago. Fluctuations in currency exchange rates hit the top line by approximately $3.7 million.

There were 20 money managers tracked by our team with long positions in Interface at the end of the March quarter, as compared to 21 managers recorded at the end of the previous quarter. Those 20 managers hoarded up nearly 13% of the company’s total number of outstanding shares. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies LLC upped its position in Interface Inc. (NASDAQ:TILE) by 24% during the January-to-March period to 1.35 million shares.

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