Insiders at these Companies Have no Fear of Further Turmoil

Moving on to Triangle Capital Corporation (NYSE:TCAP), the provider of capital to lower middle market companies had three insiders buy stock this week. Director Simon B. Rich Jr. acquired 5,000 shares at $15.57 apiece and enlarged his holding to 64,114 shares. Sherwood H. Smith, another director on the Triangle’s Board, added 6,000 shares, acquired at a price of $16.04 per unit, to his position that now consists of 73,614 shares. Most importantly, the company’s co-founder, Chairman and CEO, Garland S. Tucker III, acquired 1,500 shares this Tuesday at $16.11 per share. Following the recent transaction, the executive holds 262,556 shares, along with an additional 32,587 shares owned by his spouse. Triangle Capital’s investment income during the latest quarter added up to $27.8 million, up from $24.9 million reported a year ago. This increase was achieved thanks to the company’s increase in portfolio debt investments over the past year. Therefore, given that Triangle has been successful in closing new deals with a number of companies recently, it is highly likely that it will deliver another strong quarter. However, the shares of Triangle have lost more than 18% since the start of 2015, so these insiders may not agree with the market on the “true” value of this company’s stock. Bill Miller’s Legg Mason Capital Management represents the largest shareholder of Triangle Capital Corporation (NYSE:TCAP) within our database, owning nearly 293,000 shares.

Finally, we will investigate the insider activity at Southern Copper Corp. (NYSE:SCCO), a mining company that produces copper, molybdenum, zinc and silver. Chairman German Larrea Mota Velasco purchased 27,400 shares at $25.75 apiece on Wednesday, and 122,600 shares for $25.87 each on Thursday. After these recent transactions, the chairman owns 2.07 million shares valued at $55.33 million. The slumping commodity prices have put some downward pressure on the performance of most miners, and Southern Copper is no exception. Specifically, the declining and volatile copper prices have impacted Southern’s stock performance throughout this year, along with the broader market sell-off. The shares of the mining company are slightly over 5% in the red this year, so the chairman might be seeking to profit from the weakness of the company’s shares. According to Financial Times, a copper mine planned by Southern Copper in Peru, Tía María, is on hold due to conflicts between the police and local protesters, who are concerned about the negative impact of the mine on the water supply in the region. Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management reported an ownership stake of slightly more than 414,000 shares in Southern Copper Corp. (NYSE:SCCO) in its latest 13F filing

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