Over the past week, several insider purchases took place within the energy sector. Thus, in this article, I will take a look into three companies that saw their insiders buy at least $250,000 in their stock: Natural Resource Partners LP (NYSE:NRP), Global Partners LP (NYSE:GLP) and Noble Corporation (NYSE:NE).
Natural Resource Partners LP (NYSE:NRP) is a $1.67 billion market cap company engaged in the business of owning and managing coal properties in the three coal-producing regions of the United States -namely Appalachia, the Illinois Basin and the Western United States. On June 4, two insiders bought its stock for prices ranging from $13.4334 per share to $13.4699 per share. Corbin J. Robertson III, Board Director, purchased 20,000 shares, for a total price of $268,787. Following these transactions, the insider owns 147,079 shares of Common Stock through diverse indirect holdings, and 1.43 million shares, directly. In addition, Dennis Coker, Vice President at the Aggregates business of the company, acquired 1,000 shares and now owns 2,500 of them.
Other prominent investors betting on this stock are Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies, with 264,855 (by the end of Q1 2014), up 8% in relation to Q4, 2013, and Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, with 263,400 shares.
Global Partners LP (NYSE:GLP) is a $1.18 billion market cap midstream logistics and marketing company that saw one insider spend $628,656 on its stock. Between June 3 and June 5, Global GP LLC, Board Director and General Partner, acquired 15,400 common units representing limited partner interests, for prices ranging from $40.63 per share to $41 per share, inclusive. After these transactions, the insider owns 214,616 shares* of the company. The only hedge fund that has declared a long position in the company is, once again Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies, which started a position in the company over Q1, with 6,284 shares, worth $230,000.
Noble Corporation (NYSE:NE) is an $8 billion market cap offshore drilling contractor for the oil and gas industry. Over the past week, the company continued to witness insider activity. On June 6, David W. Williams, Chairman, President and CEO, acquired 10,000 shares for $31.03 per share. After spending $310,300 on the company’s stock, the insider owns 390,282 shares of Noble Corp.
In addition to Mr. Williams, several major hedge funds hold millionaire stakes in the company. Amongst them, the largest shareholder is Jeffrey Tannenbaum´s Fir Tree, which last declared owning about 16.9 million shares of the company, up 25% in relation to the previous quarter. This holding, valued at more than $553 million, is the most valuable in the fund’s portfolio, accounting for more than 6% of its total value.
* “Global GP LLC is purchasing common units for the purpose of meeting its anticipated obligations to deliver common units under the Global Partners LP Long-Term Incentive Plan (as amended and restated effective June 22, 2012) (“LTIP”) to officers, directors and employees. The reporting person disclaims any pecuniary interest in these securities, and this report shall not be deemed an admission that the reporting person is the beneficial owner of the securities for purposes of Section 16” (SEC).
Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no position in any stocks mentioned
