Toronto’s Financial District, looking north to Old City Hall. (Photo: mark.watmough/Flickr)
Canadian investors are in desperate need of a compass. While global markets surge higher, the S&P/TSX Composite looks utterly rudderless with the Canadian benchmark up just 0.8% on the year.
It’s hard to decide what to do with your portfolio when the market is moving sideways. Investors only know that at some point stock values will veer one way or the other. At times like this, it’s always wise to look at what corporate insiders doing with their money.
Overall, there appears to be more insiders selling shares than buying them for companies with a market capitalization of at least $250 million. For every five insiders selling, there are three buying. One of the most active sellers is on the board at Power Financial. For the past six months, Robert Gratton, deputy chair of Power Financial, has exercised options and sold off shares in the company to the tune of more than $110 million. Although a high level of insiders selling could be a red flag, Gratton lists estate planning purposes as the primary reason for selling his shares in Power Financial. That’s some estate.
Insiders at Dollarama (see Top Sellers below) also appear to be particularly active, but the company is buying shares for cancellation under a normal course issuer bid.
CI Financial, however, is another matter. Insiders here have sliced their holdings by 32% over the past six months. Fifteen insiders have collectively sold off $18.2 million worth of shares over that time while the shares climbed steadily to $30. Insiders might be forgiven for cashing in. The total one-year return for the company is an impressive 40%.
Of course, not everyone is selling. Cameco, for instance, can boast having the largest number of active insider buyers. Over the past six months, 17 insiders have collectively invested more than $1.1-million to buy 55,000 shares, although 33,000 of those shares were the result of a senior officer exercising options at $19.37 a share.
Still, the purchases increased insiders holding in the uranium miner by 15%. Cameco’s CEO Tim Gitzel himself purchased 7,200 shares at the beginning of March for $21.65 a pop.
Cameco isn’t the only mining company where insiders are actively buying up shares. At Barrick Gold, which has taken its lumps on the market this year, one lone insider appears to be taking advantage of the company’s depressed share price. As recently as May 9, Peter Munk, Barrick’s chairman, bought 100,000 shares at $21.05 apiece. Over the past six months, he’s increased his stake in the company by $6 million.
Here are some other notable insider transactions over the past six months:
| Top Sellers |
|
|
|
|
| Name |
# of sellers
|
# of buyers
|
Value of shares sold in the past 6 months
|
Value of shares purchased over the past 6 months
|
| POWER FINANCIAL |
1
|
0
|
$114,584,103
|
$-
|
| DOLLARAMA |
3
|
5
|
$23,510,158
|
$5,550,801
|
| CI FINANCIAL |
15
|
1
|
$18,206,445
|
$125,765
|
| BROOKFIELD ASSET MANAGEMENT |
7
|
2
|
$16,109,847
|
$549,585
|
| TOURMALINE OIL |
10
|
0
|
$15,044,649
|
$1,682,376
|
| Top Buyers |
|
|
|
|
| Name |
# of sellers
|
# of buyers
|
Value of shares sold in the past 6 months
|
Value of shares purchased over the past 6 months
|
| TELUS |
5
|
0
|
$11,606,055
|
$8,458,833
|
| SHAW COMMUNICATIONS |
6
|
2
|
$-
|
$8,180,278
|
| CRESCENT POINT ENERGY |
6
|
4
|
$4,429,767
|
$6,941,712
|
| CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY |
12
|
3
|
$1,800,020
|
$5,935,569
|
| BARRICK GOLD |
1
|
1
|
$-
|
$5,923,092
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Source: Bloomberg (as of May 14, 2013) |
|
|
|
Investing
Canada's most active insiders are selling more than buying: Mark Brown
By Mark Brown
Toronto’s Financial District, looking north to Old City Hall. (Photo: mark.watmough/Flickr)
Canadian investors are in desperate need of a compass. While global markets surge higher, the S&P/TSX Composite looks utterly rudderless with the Canadian benchmark up just 0.8% on the year.
It’s hard to decide what to do with your portfolio when the market is moving sideways. Investors only know that at some point stock values will veer one way or the other. At times like this, it’s always wise to look at what corporate insiders doing with their money.
Overall, there appears to be more insiders selling shares than buying them for companies with a market capitalization of at least $250 million. For every five insiders selling, there are three buying. One of the most active sellers is on the board at Power Financial. For the past six months, Robert Gratton, deputy chair of Power Financial, has exercised options and sold off shares in the company to the tune of more than $110 million. Although a high level of insiders selling could be a red flag, Gratton lists estate planning purposes as the primary reason for selling his shares in Power Financial. That’s some estate.
Insiders at Dollarama (see Top Sellers below) also appear to be particularly active, but the company is buying shares for cancellation under a normal course issuer bid.
CI Financial, however, is another matter. Insiders here have sliced their holdings by 32% over the past six months. Fifteen insiders have collectively sold off $18.2 million worth of shares over that time while the shares climbed steadily to $30. Insiders might be forgiven for cashing in. The total one-year return for the company is an impressive 40%.
Of course, not everyone is selling. Cameco, for instance, can boast having the largest number of active insider buyers. Over the past six months, 17 insiders have collectively invested more than $1.1-million to buy 55,000 shares, although 33,000 of those shares were the result of a senior officer exercising options at $19.37 a share.
Still, the purchases increased insiders holding in the uranium miner by 15%. Cameco’s CEO Tim Gitzel himself purchased 7,200 shares at the beginning of March for $21.65 a pop.
Cameco isn’t the only mining company where insiders are actively buying up shares. At Barrick Gold, which has taken its lumps on the market this year, one lone insider appears to be taking advantage of the company’s depressed share price. As recently as May 9, Peter Munk, Barrick’s chairman, bought 100,000 shares at $21.05 apiece. Over the past six months, he’s increased his stake in the company by $6 million.
Here are some other notable insider transactions over the past six months:
# of sellers
# of buyers
Value of shares sold in the past 6 months
Value of shares purchased over the past 6 months
1
0
$114,584,103
$-
3
5
$23,510,158
$5,550,801
15
1
$18,206,445
$125,765
7
2
$16,109,847
$549,585
10
0
$15,044,649
$1,682,376
# of sellers
# of buyers
Value of shares sold in the past 6 months
Value of shares purchased over the past 6 months
5
0
$11,606,055
$8,458,833
6
2
$-
$8,180,278
6
4
$4,429,767
$6,941,712
12
3
$1,800,020
$5,935,569
1
1
$-
$5,923,092