Are These Companies’ Insiders Cashing Out Too Early?

Let’s now turn our full attention to the insider selling registered at Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC). Lisa M. Buckingham, Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, offloaded 13,000 shares on Friday at a weighted average price of $53.40, trimming her stake to 32,223 shares. The holding company that operates multiple insurance and retirement businesses has seen its stock decline by 5% year-to-date, mainly owing to the August market contraction. However, the stock has rebounded since the beginning of October, having advanced by nearly 15% thus far. Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC)’s Board recently approved a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, which marks an increase of 25% year-over-year. Going back to the recent insider sale, it appears that the executive decided to cash out a portion of her stake after the company disclosed its third quarter earnings report in order to avoid scrutiny. Meanwhile, the stock is trading relatively cheaply at the moment, bearing in mind its trailing P/E of 11.60, so it would be imprudent to stipulate any potential reasons that might explain the aforementioned trade. Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management held an ownership stake of 1.94 million shares in Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) on June 30.

Finally, we will study a noteworthy insider trade that occurred at Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE:TUP) last week. President and Chief Operating Officer Simon C. Hemus offloaded 14,050 shares on Thursday at prices ranging between $58.25 and $58.65 per share. The COO currently holds a stake of exactly 50,000 shares. Although the shares of the multinational direct sales company are nearly 5% in the red year-to-date, their recent rally, which has been fueled by the firm’s promising third quarter financial results, might have propelled the COO to unload a portion of his stake. Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE:TUP) posted net sales of $521.0 million, which was up by 7% year-over-year in local currency, but decreased by 11% in U.S dollar terms. Even so, the company’s GAAP net income increased by 12% year-over-year to $36.2 million. It is also worth pointing out that the stock may keep rising in the weeks and months ahead, considering its relatively cheap trailing P/E ratio of 14.41. Joe Huber’s Huber Capital Management owned a stake of 1.38 million shares in Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE:TUP) at the end of June.

Disclosure: None