Some companies, like caravan rentals, have had to shut up shop due to government lockdowns (Picture: Getty)
Directors Trades: Massive share price hits keep the directors coming back for the bargains
Director Trades
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Last week saw several Australian states close their borders for the first time in decades and neighbouring New Zealand lock down.
While there were a few less directors trades compared to the last four weeks, there were still 16.
| Code | Company | Director | Change | Date | Volume | $ | What |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CCP | Credit Corp | Don McLay | Buy | 17 March | 25,000 | $514,034 | On market |
| JLG | John Lyng Group | Scott Didier | Buy | 16 March | 70,000 | $147,877 | On market |
| PVE | Po Valley Energy | Kevin Bailey | Buy | 31 January | 2,071,559 | $107,228.00 | On market |
| NIC | Nickel Mines | Yuanyuan Xu | Sell | 20 March | 28,000,000 | $11,200,000 | Off market |
| DDR | Dicker Data | David Dicker | Buy | 19 March | 50,000 | $239,185 | ON market |
| OVT | Ovato | Michael Hannan | Buy | 23 March | 21,000,000 | $232,906 | ON market |
| PNV | PolyNono | David Williams | Buy | 23 March | 100,000 | $140,000.00 | On market |
| GAP | Gale Pacific | David Allman | Buy | 24 March | 550,000 | $116,032 | On market |
| ADH | Adairs | Trent Peterson | Buy | 20 March | 150,000 | $184,711 | On market |
| NRW | NRW Holdings | Julian Pemberton | Sell | 20 March | 3,650,000 | $4,964,701 | On market |
| CCP | Credit Corp | Don McLay | Buy | 20 March | 15,000 | $186,148 | On market |
| BTI | Bailador Technology Investments | Paul Wilson | Buy | 24 March | 345,000 | $175,445 | On market |
| ARA | Ariadne Australia | Kevin Seymour | Buy | 24 March | 2,353,220 | $1,176,610 | Off market |
| BTI | Bailador Technology Investments | David Kirk | Buy | 26 March | 219,427 | $231,539 | Dividend Reinvestment plan |
| MCP | McPhersons | Graham Cubbin | Buy | 25 March | 70,000 | $123,690 | On market |
| CGL | Citadel Group | Mark McConnell | Buy | 25 March | 69,970 | $123,872 | On market |
A familiar name, Trent Petersen, once again bought Adairs (ASX:ADH) shares — $184,711 worth. The homeware retailer has had to close all its stores in Australia and New Zealand.
Although Friday’s announcement did not comment on whether or not online distribution in New Zealand was continuing, fellow retailer Kathmandu (ASX:KMD) said even online shopping could not continue in the country.
While Adairs finished last week higher than it began, it closed on Friday off its highs seen earlier in the week.
Graham Cubbin, director of wellness product seller McPhersons (ASX:MCP), bought $123,690 worth of shares.
The company is a distributor of more than a dozen market leading brands such as Manicare and Swisspers in Australia and Asia.
It pays to be “essential”
If you thought panic buying only happened in supermarkets, think again. Builder Johns Lyng Group (ASX:JLG) reported on Friday it had seen unprecedented demand for its services.
One of its directors, Scott Dider, bought $147,877 of shares on market last week.
The company told shareholders it was considered an essential service. Johns Lyng was one of the companies undertaking home repairs following the bushfires in December and January and the metropolitan storms in February.
A director of investment firm Ariadne Australia (ASX:ARA). made the biggest buy of the week.
Kevin Seymour dropped an extra $1.18m to pick up more shares.
Tech can’t escape the carnage
Tech stocks have been among the biggest hit and directors are continuing to take advantage of the falling prices.
Paul Wilson and David Kirk bought over $400,000 of tech investment firm Bailador Technology Investments (ASX:BTI) shares in the last week.
The company owns several rising tech firms, mostly unlisted, including hotel channel management solution SiteMinder and mortgage broker Lendi.
Citadel Group (ASX:CGL) founder Mark McConnell took another leap of faith in his company, buying a further $123,872 worth of shares.
One particularly hard hit sub-sector is buy now, pay later. Analysts and investors are concerned that defaults will rise among existing customers and there will be a drop off in new customers.
This concern has spread to receivables collector Credit Corp (ASX:CCP), which has shed over 70 per cent of its value since the crisis broke out. But this didn’t stop Don McClay from making a $186,711 buy.
Dicker Data (ASX:DDR) founder David Dicker bought $239,185 worth of his firms’ shares. The company distributes IT hardware, software, cloud and IoT solutions to reseller partners.
The sellers
Two directors made big sales last week. Julian Pemberton of NRW Holdings (ASX:NWH) sold nearly $5m. The company told shareholders he sold because he had a tax bill to pay.
The other seller was Yuanyuan Xu, who sold $11m worth of shares in producer Nickel Mines (ASX:NIC).
