Insider Trades: Directors bought and sold shares in these 6 ASX 200 stocks last week
Wisetech insiders continued to offload millions, REA Group's CEO sold 1,000 shares and Nufarm insiders bought the dip.
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Mentioned
KEY POINTS
- Nufarm insiders are buying into recent share price weakness following a worse-than-feared half-year FY24 result
- Wisetech founders continued to offload shares last week, bringing year-to-date selling to $249 million worth of shares
- REA Group Chief Executive Owen Wilson sold 1,000 shares. The stock is trying to break out after six months of sideways action
Welcome back to the Insider Trades Series – A weekly summary of on-market ASX 200 director transactions valued at more than $10,000. The trades have all taken place between 10 and 13 June 2024. Directors have up to 5 business days to notify the ASX of their trades.
Top ASX 200 Insider Buys
Code | Company | Date | Director | Type | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lendlease Group | 11/06/24 | Buy | $5.68 | $113,500 | ||
Neuren Pharmaceuticals | 11/06/24 | Buy | $19.49 | $97,450 | ||
Nufarm | 11/06/24 | Buy | $4.83 | $50,000 | ||
Nufarm | 13/06/24 | Buy | $4.77 | $47,700 | ||
Karoon Energy | 11/06/24 | Buy | $1.70 | $20,049 |
Nufarm reported its half-year FY24 results on 23 May, which fell short of analyst expectations due to continued margin pressures and inventory issues. Group EBITDA was down 31% year-on-year to $217 million and 12% below consensus. The stock finished the session down 7.0% to a near-six month low.
The global crop protection market remains challenging, with no recovery expected until FY25. Analysts noted Nufarm's FY24 EBITDA guidance of $350 million to $390 million as considerably below prior forecasts and market estimates. Leverage was seen as a concern by several analysts, with net debt to EBITDA ratios elevated far above targets, primarily due to high seasonal working capital outflows.
Management remained confident in FY26 targets but Morgan Stanley said "these feel increasingly aspirational." The analysts cut their FY24 net profit forecasts by 46% to $55 million and FY25 forecasts by 19% to $137 million.
Two Non-Executive Directors bought shares in the past week as the stock hovers not far off two-year lows.
Top ASX 200 Insider Sells
Code | Company | Date | Director | Type | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wisetech Global | 13/06/24 | Sell | $98.92 | $27,880,503 | ||
Wisetech Global | 13/06/24 | Sell | $98.92 | $2,479,528 | ||
REA Group | 13/06/24 | Sell | $191.75 | $191,750 |
Wisetech founder Richard White and co-founder Maree Isaacs have logged another week of selling. The two have sold a collective $805 million worth of shares since 2020 (up from $789.9 million a week ago). The selling this year has now far outpaced prior years.
2024-to-date: $249.0 million
2023: $22.7 million
2022: $198.5 million
2021: $193.2 million
2020: $167.1 million
REA Group Chief Executive Owen Wilson recently sold 1,000 shares ($191,750). He beneficially owns around 44,650 shares following the transaction. The previous insider sell also involved Mr Wilson, who sold 2,000 shares on 31 August 2023.
REA Group shares have had a relatively flat year-to-date performance, up 6.75%. From a technical perspective, the stock is teasing at a breakout over $194 after six months of sideways action.
The latest market sensitive announcement from the company was its Q3 FY24 results on 9 May, which was largely in-line with analyst expectations.
"Following REA’s 3Q update, we upgrade core NPAT by 2-4% to the reflect stronger-than-expected 3Q and stronger listing volumes in FY24e. We retain a Neutral rating, target price increases to $192.60 from $187, reflecting earnings changes partially offset by lower peer multiples," Citi analysts said in a note dated 9 May.
