New CFO of United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) Purchases Shares, Plus Noteworthy Insider Trading at 4 Other Companies

Board Member of Struggling Fashion Retailer Purchases Shares

One member of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)’s Board also purchased a sizable chunk of shares this past week. Board member Craig R. Stapleton acquired 10,000 shares on Thursday at a price of $17.65 per share, lifting his overall holding to 57,398 shares.

The insider purchase comes shortly after the specialty retailer released underwhelming financial results for its fiscal second quarter ended July 30. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF), which sells casual sportswear apparel, personal care products, and accessories for men, women and children under the Abercrombie & Fitch, abercrombie kids and Hollister brands, has seen the value of its shares plunge by 37% since the beginning of 2016. Following the release of the disappointing earnings report, analysts at Stifel downgraded the fashion retailer to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’, saying that they “lack visibility for near-term improvement.” Stifel analysts anticipate comparable-sales in the second half of 2016 to “remain challenged despite the impact from a strengthened merchandising and design team and a significant increase in marketing spend to support the brands’ repositioning.” Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies owned 1.53 million shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) at the end of June.

Executive at Regional Property and Casualty Insurer Boosts Ownership Stake

A member of State Auto Financial Corp (NASDAQ:STFC)’s executive team also purchased some shares last week. Kim Burton Garland, Senior Vice President of Standard Lines, snatched up 6,356 shares on Friday at a cost of $23.63 per share. After the recent transaction, Mr. Garland currently owns 43,037 shares.

The shares of the regional property and casualty insurance holding company are up by an impressive 15% since the start of the year. State Auto Financial Corp (NASDAQ:STFC), which is engaged in writing personal, business, and specialty insurance products, recently announced a cash dividend of $0.10 per share, representing the company’s 101^st consecutive quarterly cash dividend payment since the company went public in 1991. The $0.10-per-share quarterly cash dividend yields 1.68% annually. The number of hedge funds followed by Insider Monkey with long positions in State Auto Financial fell to five from six during the second quarter of 2016. Royce & Associates, founded by Chuck Royce, was the owner of 280,367 shares of State Auto Financial Corp (NASDAQ:STFC) at the end of the second quarter.

The final page of this article will discuss fresh insider selling registered at two other companies.