‘Cluster Selling’ at Medical Properties Trust Inc. (MPW), Plus Light Insider Selling at 2 Other Companies

Mild Insider Selling at Strong-Performing Diversified Manufacturer

Chase Corporation (NYSEMKT:CCF) also had two Board members discard some shares this week. Former Director Ronald Levy, who served on the company’s Board of Directors from 1994 through February 2016, sold 2,000 shares on Wednesday for $56.25 apiece. Mr. Levy currently owns 19,410 shares. Current Director Lewis P. Gack unloaded a mere 250 shares a day earlier at a price of $55.91 per share, cutting his ownership to 8,886 shares.

Chase Corporation is a diversified manufacturing company serving the wire and cable, specialty chemicals, bridge construction, advanced converting, and electronics industries. The company’s total revenue for the six months that ended February 29 reached $112.40 million, an increase from $108.24 million reported for the same period a year earlier. The performance of the Industrial Materials segment, which accounted for 77% of total revenue for the six-month period, benefited from sustained demand for the company’s pulling and detection, electronic coatings, and specialty chemical intermediates products. On the contrary, a decrease in demand for wire and cable, and fiber optic cable components products put some pressure on the company’s top-line results. Meanwhile, revenue generated from the Construction Materials segment decreased slightly year-over-year due to slowing sales volume for pipeline coatings products related to water infrastructure projects in the Middle East. Chase Corporations’ domestically-produced pipeline coatings products, which target North American oil and gas markets, registered an increase in sales volume, so the company was not severely impacted by the depressed state of those markets. Net income for the six months that ended February 29 reached $14.42 million, up from $11.07 million reported a year earlier.

Chase Corporation has seen its market capitalization gain 39% year-to-date, to nearly $526 million. The hedge fund sentiment towards the manufacturing company remained unchanged during the fourth quarter, with six hedge funds having amassed almost 10% of the company’s outstanding common stock as of the end of the quarter. Royce & Associates, founded by Chuck Royce, cut its stake in Chase Corporation (NYSEMKT:CCF) by 8% during the December quarter, ending 2015 with approximately 656,000 shares.

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