Did The Rate Hike Scare Away These Companies’ Insiders?

Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) is another company that registered heavy insider selling last week. Director Christopher R. Kirkland reported selling 40,000 shares last week at prices between $51.63 and $53.29 per share, all of which were held by a trust fund. After the recent sell-off, the trust fund owns 388,715 shares, while the Director also holds a direct ownership stake of 245,619 shares. The shares of the Arkansas-based financial holding company are up by 24% so far in 2015, despite experiencing a sharp pullback since the beginning of December. The company has grown considerably over the course of this year, thanks to its organic loan growth and growth from acquisitions. Simmons delivered loan growth of 44.6% for the third quarter of 2015 compared to the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, the company reported total interest income of $221.62 million for the nine months that ended September 30, up from $134.09 million reported for the same period a year ago. Simmons also registered record core earnings per share in each of the three quarters of 2015. The company generated net income of $50.3 million for the first nine months of 2015, up from $23.0 million reported in the same period of 2014. A mere five hedge funds from our database were invested in Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) at the end of the third quarter, while Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies was the most bullish among them with 115,500 shares.

Last but not least, B/E Aerospace Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAV) had three different executives sell stock last week. Ryan M. Patch, Vice President – Law, General Counsel, Secretary and Chief Compliance Officer since July 2009, unloaded 2,139 shares on Friday at a sale price of $41.37 per share, trimming his stake to 36,738 shares. Vice President and General Manager for the Commercial Aircraft Segment, Sean Cromie, sold 300 shares on Thursday at a weighted average price of $43.05 and currently holds 41,052 shares. Finally, President and Chief Executive Officer Werner Lieberherr reported selling 26,703 shares on the same day at prices ranging from $43.04-to-$43.16 per share, 15,128 shares of which were held by a family trust fund. After the recent sale, the CEO holds a direct ownership stake of 132,608 shares. The manufacturer of cabin interior products for commercial aircraft and business jets has seen its shares decline nearly 29% in 2015, which trade at a very appealing forward P/E ratio of 12.78 (the forward P/E ratio for the S&P 500 Index equals 17.19). The company has been undertaking cost reduction efforts, including facilities consolidation, product rationalization, workforce reduction and program discontinuance. At the same time, a higher global traffic, capacity, load factors and airline profitability in 2015 has assisted B/E Aerospace in delivering strong top-line growth despite facing weakening global economic conditions. A total of 46 smart money investors from our database had positions in the company at the end of the September quarter, amassing 36.40% of the company’s outstanding shares. Jonathon Jacobson’s Highfields Capital Management acquired a 4.31 million-share stake in B/E Aerospace Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAV) during the third quarter.

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