Nike Inc. (NKE) and Two Other Companies Witness Mild Insider Buying, Plus Notable Insider Selling at Other Companies

CFO of Leading Brazilian Steakhouse Acquires New Stake

An executive at Fogo De Chao Inc. (NASDAQ:FOGO) recently has purchased shares of his company for the first time. Anthony D. Laday, who has been the company’s Chief Financial Officer since April 2014, acquired a new stake of 1,000 shares on Friday at $10.62 apiece. While the size of the purchase is not very significant, the timing of the purchase appears to be quite telling. After all, Mr. Laday could have initiated a stake in the company over the course of the last two years or so, but the initial purchase was made after a little more than two years since he embarked on his role as CFO.

Fogo de Chão is a leading Brazilian steakhouse that specializes in fire-roasting meats utilizing the centuries-old Southern Brazilian cooking technique of churrasco. Fogo De Chao Inc. (NASDAQ:FOGO) operates 43 restaurants, 32 of which are located in the United States, 10 in Brazil and one in Mexico. The company’s total revenue for the three months ended July 3 was $69.55 million, up by $1.3 million year-on-year. The increase in Fogo De Chao’s top line was mainly driven by a $5.2 million-increase in non-comparable restaurant sales, and was offset by foreign currency headwinds and a 1.6% decrease in comparable restaurant sales. Fogo De Chao has seen its market cap fall by 30% in the past year, which likely explains the CFO’s decision to acquire shares. David Keidan’s Buckingham Capital Management added a 78,232-share stake in Fogo De Chao Inc. (NASDAQ:FOGO) to its portfolio during the second quarter.

Executive at Small-Cap REIT Purchases Shares

One member of Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust Inc. (NASDAQ:WHLR)’s executive team also snapped up some shares this past week. David Kelly, Senior Vice President, Director of Acquisitions for Wheeler, bought 17,285 shares on Friday at a price of $1.74 each. After the recent purchase, Mr. Kelly currently owns 38,253 shares.

The shares of the commercial real estate investment company focused on acquiring and managing income-producing retail properties with a focus on grocery-anchored centers are down a little less than 1% since the start of the year. Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust Inc. (NASDAQ:WHLR) owned and operated 55 centers, one office building and ten underdeveloped properties at the end of June. In September, the REIT’s Board of Directors authorized a quarterly cash dividend of $0.0175 per share, which equates to a current annual dividend yield of around 12%. There were seven hedge funds from our system invested in Wheeler at the end of the second quarter, which hoarded up approximately 23% of the company’s total number of outstanding shares. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies LLC reported ownership of 273,600 shares of Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust Inc. (NASDAQ:WHLR) in its 13F filing for the April-to-June period.

The final page of this article will discuss fresh insider selling at two other companies.