Intel Corporation (INTC) and PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) Among Companies with Notable Insider Selling Activity

This Tile Retailer’s Chairman Also Offloaded Large Amount of Shares

Tile Shop Hldgs Inc. (NASDAQ:TTS) saw one of its Board members unload a sizable block of shares last week. Chairman William E. Watts discarded 83,781 shares on Wednesday at prices that ranged from $18.00 to $18.82 per share, which cut his ownership to 148,327 shares. This ownership stake also includes 18,012 shares of restricted stock granted pursuant to the company’s 2012 Omnibus Award Plan.

This massive insider sale comes after the tile retailer released a stronger-than-expected earnings report last week, which sent shares soaring. The company’s shares have gained 11% year-to-date and over 40% since March 8, so the company’s strong stock performance in recent weeks seems to serve as the most legitimate reason behind the Chairman’s transaction. Tile Shop’s net sales for the first quarter of this year were $84.71 million, an increase of 16.1% year-over-year due to comparable-store sales growth of 13.2% and incremental net sales of approximately $2.1 million from stores not included in the comparable-store base. First quarter net income climbed to $6.76 million from $3.66 million reported a year earlier. Tile Shop also raised its full-year revenue guidance to the range of $320 million-to-$329 million from the previous guidance of $312 million-to-$325 million.

Meanwhile, Tile Shop’s shares are currently trading at a hefty forward P/E ratio of 33.6, which is significantly above the ratio of 20.1 for the Home Improvement sector. There were 18 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey with stakes in the tile retailer at the end of December, which amassed nearly 15% of the company’s outstanding shares. Charles Paquelet’s Skylands Capital cuts its position in Tile Shop Hldgs Inc. (NASDAQ:TTS) by 7% during the January-to-March quarter to 743,500 shares.