Noteworthy Insider Purchases Uncovered at Progressive Corp (PGR), Green Bancorp Inc. (GNBC), and United Technologies Corporation (UTX)

United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) recently recorded the first insider purchase of the company’s shares since early 2009, so let’s try to find out what might have persuaded that insider to purchase shares. Director Fredric G. Reynolds acquired 12,000 shares on Tuesday at prices varying between $85.86 and $86.25 per share, boosting his overall holding to 13,225 shares. The provider of high technology products and services to the building systems and aerospace industries has seen its stock decline by 28% over the past 12 months, mainly because of slowing economic growth in China and other emerging economies. The company’s total sales for 2015 decreased by 3% year-over-year to $56.1 billion, mainly because of the negative impact of foreign exchange. The company’s organic sales growth reached 1% last year, but the slowing Chinese economy has clearly impacted the company’s financial performance in recent quarters.

Let’s take a quick look at UTC’s Otis business segment, which provides elevators, escalators and moving walkways. This business segment generated approximately 21% of the company’s net sales in 2015 and represented the most profitable business of UTC, with an operating profit margin of 19.5%. Otis’ revenue from China had increased by roughly 20% annually for several years until 2014. However, new equipment orders within the Otis segment in China dropped by 19% year-over-year in the third quarter of 2015, so the turmoil in the world’s second-largest economy has greatly impacted United Technologies. However, the company has a forward P/E multiple of 12.25, which appears to reflect the weakening global economy. The hedge fund sentiment towards the stock was very negative in the third quarter, with the number of top money managers invested in the company declining to 48 from 57 quarter-over-quarter. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management holds an 8.18 million-share position in United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) as of the end of the third quarter.

Disclosure: None