Three Companies With Noteworthy Insider Trading Activity

Tire manufacturer Titan International Inc. (NYSE:TWI) saw its founder purchase shares last week. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Maurice M. Taylor Jr. reported acquiring 100,000 shares on Friday at $5.30 apiece, boosting his overall holdings to 449,870 shares. The shares of Titan have plummeted by nearly 40% since the company released its disappointing third-quarter earnings report on November 6. Titan International reported sales of $308.8 million, which were down 31.3% year-on-year. The company’s struggling end-markets, which have been in turn impacted by low commodity prices in mining and agriculture, had a significant impact on its financial performance in the third quarter. Even more to that, it is not entirely clear how short-lived or permanent those headwinds will be in the upcoming months and years. However, the tire manufacturer sealed a licensing deal with Goodyear that will enable Titan to market Goodyear-brand farm tires in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Russia, and other Commonwealth of Independent States countries. Meanwhile, the number of hedge funds within our database with stakes in the company decreased to 16 from 19 during the second quarter, stockpiling 23.30% of the company’s shares. Mark Rachesky’s MHR Fund Management owned 8.01 million shares in Titan International Inc. (NYSE:TWI) at the end of the June quarter.

Lastly, let’s take a thorough look at the insider buying activity at master limited partnership NuStar Energy L.P. (NYSE:NS). Chairman William E. Greenhey acquired a 50,000-share block on Thursday at prices between $45.67 and $46.71, and currently holds approximately 2.94 million shares. The independent liquids terminal and pipeline operator delivered a strong third-quarter earnings report, thanks to its fee-based operations. Put it differently, the company’s assets generate money irrespective of the commodity-price environment. NuStar Energy L.P. posted third-quarter distributable cash flow from continuing operations of $89.4 million or $1.15 per unit, up from $87.9 million or $1.13 per unit reported a year ago. Meanwhile, the shares of the MLP are 22% in the red year-to-date and are trading at a luring trailing P/E ratio of 14.16. A number of 12 hedge funds monitored by our team had the stock in their portfolios at the end of the second quarter, all of which accumulated 1.30% of the company’s outstanding shares. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies held approximately 165,000 shares in NuStar Energy L.P. (NYSE:NS) on June 30.

Disclosure: None