What Has Insiders Purchasing Shares Of These 3 Companies?

Let’s now focus our attention on specialty finance company Consumer Portfolio Services Inc. (NASDAQ:CPSS). Gregory S. Washer, one of the company’s Board Members, purchased 25,000 shares this week at prices ranging from $4.78-to-$4.82, boosting his overall holding to 307,744 shares. The shares of the auto lender have been on a downtrend since early March and are down by 33% year-to-date. On October 14, Consumer Portfolio Services Inc. (NASDAQ:CPSS) announced its seemingly strong financial results for the third quarter, which were not well received by the market to say the least. The company posted earnings per diluted share (diluted EPS) of $0.28 on revenues of $94.0 million, compared to diluted EPS of $0.24 on revenues of $77.1 million reported a year ago. However, it might be the case that investors are more concerned about the company’s +30 days delinquencies, which were 8.81% of its owned portfolio on September 30, compared with 6.66% registered a year ago. To sum up, the Director’s bullish move might somewhat point to a turnaround in the months ahead, considering the otherwise strong third quarter earnings report. Tom Brown’s Second Curve Capital reported ownership of 2.43 million shares of Consumer Portfolio Services Inc. (NASDAQ:CPSS) through its 13F filing for the June quarter.

Lastly, we will examine the insider trading activity at another low-priced stock, Arts-Way Manufacturing Co. Inc. (NASDAQ:ARTW). Director Marc H. McConnell reported the acquisition of a 5,000-share block at a weighted average price of $3.15, which is held by his Individual Retirement Account (IRA). It is also worth mentioning that the Director holds a direct ownership stake of 10,000 shares, while his spouse owns 250 shares. The manufacturer of agricultural equipment has seen sagging demand for nearly its entire portfolio of agricultural products, which was reflected in the company’s financial results for the third quarter that ended August 31, 2015. Arts-Way Manufacturing Co. Inc. (NASDAQ:ARTW) reported a net loss of $796,000 on sales of $6.89 million, compared with net income of $558,000 on sales of $11.59 million reported for the same quarter of 2014. In the meantime, its shares have lost over 40% since the beginning of the year, and have not traded at such low levels since 2006. None of the elite funds we track at Insider Monkey had a position in Arts-Way Manufacturing Co. Inc. (NASDAQ:ARTW) as of June 30.

Disclosure: None