Struggling Nitrogen Fertilizer Producer and Two REITs Witness Heavy Insider Buying

Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) saw one member of its Board of Directors purchase a sizable block of shares this week. Director David A. Handler snapped up 39,000 units of common stock on Tuesday for $25.35 each and currently holds an ownership stake of 302,015 shares. The self-managed Pennsylvania REIT was formed in 2013 after the spin-off of Penn National Gaming Inc. (NASDAQ:PENN)’s real estate assets. The REIT’s portfolio comprised 21 gaming and related facilities at the end of December 2015, most of which are leased back to a subsidiary of Penn under a triple-net operating lease with an initial term of 15 years. In July 2015, the REIT announced an agreement to acquire the real estate assets of Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ:PNK) in an all-stock deal valued at $4.75 billion. The deal has not been completed yet, but the regulatory process for the Pinnacle transaction is in progress. Gaming and Leisure Properties generated total revenues of $575.05 million during 2015, down from $591.07 million a year earier. The number of hedge funds from our database with stakes in the company increased to 29 from 28 during the December quarter, accumulating 28.40% of the REIT’s outstanding common stock. Ahmet Okumus’ Okumus Fund Management acquired a new stake of 2.13 million shares in Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) in the fourth quarter of 2015.

CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE:CF) registered a cluster of insider buying in the past several weeks, which is the kind of insider trading activity individual investors should look for. To begin with, Bert A. Frost, Senior Vice President of Sales, Distribution and Market Development, bought 8,000 shares on Wednesday at prices that ranged from $31.30 to $31.32 per share and boosted his stake to 51,037 shares. More importantly, Chief Executive Officer and President Anthony W. Will acquired 25,000 shares a day earlier at prices that fell between $32.68 and $32.81 per share and currently owns 129,420 shares. The manufacturer of nitrogen fertilizer and other nitrogen products saw a few more insiders buy shares in December 2015. The shares of the nitrogen fertilizer producer are down 46% over the past 52 weeks, mainly due to lower fertilizer prices. CF Industries Holdings has experienced increased pricing pressure lately, mainly due to excess global supply. China is the largest producer and consumer of fertilizers, so the recent devaluation of the Chinese currency and the country’s fast-expanding fertilizer production capacity, along with the depressed coal and natural gas prices, have weighted on nitrogen fertilizer prices. CF Industries Holdings generated net sales of $4.31 billion in 2015, down from $4.74 billion in 2014 and $5.47 billion in 2013. In the meantime, the stock trades at a forward P/E multiple of 9.78, which is substantially below the average for the companies included in the S&P 500. The hedge fund sentiment towards the stock was negative in the fourth quarter, as the number of money managers with positions in CF Industries dropped to 37 from 50. John Burbank’s Passport Capital reported owning 9.19 million shares of CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE:CF) in its latest 13F filing.

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