The New York Times Company (NYT) and EQT Midstream Partners (EQM): Two Mid-Cap Stocks That Insiders Love

As I continue to track insider activity, I stumbled upon two mid-cap companies that witnessed insider purchases on Thursday, May 8. What’s interesting about these cases is that both companies boast industry leading returns on equity. So, let’s take a look at the transactions and institutional sponsorship:

The first company in question is EQT Midstream Partners LP (NYSE:EQM), a $3.7 billion market cap company that owns, operates, acquires and develops midstream assets in the Appalachian Basin. Its return on equity of 19.3% is amongst the widest in the industry, same as its net and operating margins, and its growth history.

On May 8, Michael Bryson, Board Director, acquired 1,000 shares of Common Stock for $75.90 per share, which were allocated at the Kathryn F. Bryson Revocable Trust. In addition, the insider owns 2,450 shares directly. In addition to Mr. Bryson, Richard Driehaus‘ Driehaus Capital is also placing strong bets on the company. The fund last reported having increased its holdings by 10%, to 203,400 shares. Its holdings are only surpassed by Dmitry Balyasny‘s Balyasny Asset Management, a $2 billion multi-strategy hedge fund firm that owns 370,400 shares.

The second case I would like to review is that of The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT), a famed global media organization with a market cap of $2.3 billion. Also on May 8, Joichi Ito, Board Director, started a position in the stock with 3,220 shares of Class A Common Stock for which he paid prices ranging from $15.58 to $15.63 per share. Other prominent investors betting on The New York Times Co. are James H. Litinsky whose fund, Jhl Capital Group, last reported having slightly increased its position in the stock to 11.18 million shares. Christopher Lord‘s Criterion Capital almost doubled its stake over the last reported quarter, to 1.3 million shares, same as Ken Griffin‘s Citadel Investment Group, which owns 867,900 shares.

Just like in the previous case, The New York Times Co. boasts industry leading returns on equity of 8.5%, more than double the industry average. In addition, a 1.05% dividend yield makes this investment attractive to income investors (same as EQT Midstream Partners, which yields 2.35%).

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no position in any stocks mentioned