More Insider Buying at Ambac Financial Group Inc. (AMBC), Plus Two Other Companies with Interesting Insider Buying Activity

Live Ventures Inc. (NASDAQ:LIVE) had its most influential executive purchase some shares earlier this week. Jon Isaac, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and President, purchased 8,633 shares on Thursday at a weighted average cost of $1.58 per share. Mr. Isaac, who purchased an additional 15,000 units of common stock in March, currently owns a stake of 8.33 million shares, which accounts for 49.24% of the company’s outstanding shares. Although the size of the recent purchases are insignificant relative to Mr. Isaac’s overall ownership, the recent insider trading activity may be worth attention because there had not been any insider buying since the end of 2014 until this March.

Live Ventures is a diversified holding company that started to expand its focus beyond promoting online marketing solutions to small and medium businesses last year. In July 2015, the company acquired 80% interest in Marquis Industries Inc., a carpet manufacturer, a producer of innovative yarn products, and a reseller of hard surface flooring products. Through the end of November 2015, Live Ventures acquired the remaining 20% interest in Marquis for $2 million, which included $1.50 million in cash and a note payable of $500,000. The freshly-acquired company focuses on the residential, niche commercial and hospitality end-markets, serving more than 2,000 customers. Live Ventures also operates real-time “deal engine” platform LiveDeal.com, which connects restaurants and consumers across the United States. Moreover, the company operates an online consumer products retailer, called ModernEveryday, which sells a wide variety of products such as kitchen and dining products, apparel and sporting goods, children’s toys, among other things.

Live Ventures generated revenues of $20.10 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2016 that ended December 31, up from only $8.01 million reported for the same period of the prior year. Indeed, the increase in the company’s top-line figure for the quarter was mainly driven by the acquisition of Marquis Industries. Live Ventures continues to seek opportunities to acquire profitable companies in the foreseeable future, so retail investors should keep an eye of this reborn diversified company. The company has seen its market value drop 50% in the past 12 months, but its market capitalization has gained 8% since the beginning of 2016. D.E. Shaw & Co. L.P., founded by David E. Shaw, owns 18,023 shares of Live Ventures Inc. (NASDAQ:LIVE) as of December 31.