Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) and Two Other Companies Receive Vote of Confidence from Corporate Insiders

This Financial Holding Company Sees Two Insiders Purchase Shares Despite Strong Stock Performance

Wintrust Financial Corp (NASDAQ:WTFC) saw two different insiders purchase shares this past week, so let’s find out who stands behind the recent buying. H. Patrick Hackett Jr., Board member since 2008, snapped up 9,500 shares on Friday at a price tag of $53.11 each, lifting his ownership to 33,805 shares. Marla F. Glabe, another member of the company’s boardroom, bought 380 shares on the same day for $53.24 each. Following the recent purchase, Ms. Glabe currently owns 2,501 shares.

The insider buying comes a little more than a week after the financial holding company that provides traditional community banking services released its second-quarter earnings report. Wintrust Financial Corp (NASDAQ:WTFC) recorded net income of $50.0 million or $0.90 per diluted share, up from net income of $49.1 million or $0.90 per diluted share posted a year ago. In late June, Wintrust Financial inked a deal to acquire roughly $581 million in performing loans and related relationships from General Electric Company (NYSE:GE)’s GE Capital Franchise Finance, as part of General Electric’s plan to focus on its high-value industrial businesses. The loans are made to franchise operators, mainly quick services restaurant concepts, in the Midwest and in the Western portion of the United States. Wintrust Financial anticipates to complete the acquisition in the third quarter of this year.

There were 12 asset managers from our database invested in Wintrust Financial at the end of the March quarter, as compared to 14 recorded at the end of the December quarter. Wintrust shares are up 9% thus far in 2016. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management cut its stake in Wintrust Financial Corp (NASDAQ:WTFC) by roughly 1% during the April-to-June quarter to 1.31 million shares.

Industrial Distributor of Maintenance and Repair Supplies Has CEO Pile up Some Shares

The man in charge of Lawson Products Inc. (NASDAQ:LAWS) was caught buying some shares earlier this week. President and CEO Michael G. DeCata snatched up 1,000 shares on Tuesday at $18.05 apiece. After the recent purchase, Mr. DeCata currently owns 18,591 shares.

The industrial distributor of maintenance and repair supplies has seen the value of its shares plunge by 24% since the start of 2016, mainly due to a disappointing second-quarter earnings report. Lawson Products Inc. (NASDAQ:LAWS)’s net sales for the second quarter of 2016 decreased by 1.9% year-over-year to $69.35 million, reflecting a general slow-down in the maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) marketplace, weaker demand from customers operating in the oil and gas industry, the weaker Canadian dollar and lower productivity from newly-hired sales representatives. The company’s bottom line decreased to $0.2 million from $2.9 million reported a year ago, mainly driven by lower sales, increased investment in its sales team and higher acquisition-related costs.

Lawson Products’ shares are currently changing hands at around 35.3-times expected earnings, significantly above the forward PE multiple of 16.6 for the industrials sector. A mere four hedge fund vehicles monitored by our team were invested in the company at the end of March, hoarding up approximately 5% of its total number of outstanding shares. Richard Driehaus’ Driehaus Capital had 85,562 shares of Lawson Products Inc. (NASDAQ:LAWS) among its holdings at the end of the first quarter.

Disclosure: None