Is A Grim Outlook Pushing These Insiders To Sell Shares?

Jack L. Howard, Principal Executive Officer of Steel Excel Inc (NASDAQ:SXCL), unloaded 5,000 shares for $22.19 each on Tuesday. Hence, the executive currently holds a 67,276 share-stake valued at nearly $1.46 million. Let’s not forget to mention that Jack Howard also sold 10,670 shares on Friday of last week at a price of $22.57 per share. The shares of Steel Excel Inc (NASDAQ:SXCL) have lost over 14% year-to-date, but the steady downtrend that has been continuing since the beginning of July 2014 seems to be over. The company that operates through its Energy and Sports business segments, reported net revenues of $35.6 million for the second quarter of 2015, compared with $51.9 million registered a year ago. The company’s net loss widened year-over-year to $10.5 million from $7.7 million. The continuing weakness in the oil industry has impacted the results of operations of the company’s Energy segment, which is seemingly reflected in its stock performance. No investors in our database holds shares of Steel Excel as of June 30.

Finally, Cimarex Energy Co (NYSE:XEC) had two different insiders sell stock on Tuesday. John Lambuth, who was named Vice President of Exploration for Cimarex back in 2012, sold 10,000 shares at a price of $104.52 per share, reducing his stake to 85,471 shares. In the meantime, the company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Joseph R. Albi, offloaded 1,110 shares at $104.00 apiece. After the recent sale, the executive owns 38,093 shares. The independent oil and gas exploration and production company has had a good year compared to its industry peers, as its shares are currently trading at the same level as they were trading at during the first days of 2015. Just recently, the company’s Board of Directors announced its regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.16 per share, which is payable on December 1, 2015. Therefore, it appears that the company has been doing quite well amid a struggling oil industry. It is hard to link the executives’ recent sales to specific developments at Cimarex Energy, but the oil industry does not show any signs of recovery yet, keeping in mind that a new stream of oil from Iran might impact the price of oil. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management acquired a 603,762 share-stake in Cimarex Energy Co (NYSE:XEC) during the second quarter, making it one of the largest equity holders in the Denver-based company within our database.

Disclosure: None