We take a look at directors buying and selling shares in their own company in our weekly column.
- Diageo Chairman buys 236 shares
- British American Tobacco non-exec buys 3,300 shares
- Crest Nicholson Director purchases 6,069 shares
- Mkango Resources CEO purchases 800k shares
- Gensource Potash Corporation directors purchase shares
Diageo LON:DGE Chairman, Javier Ferrán purchased on 10th February 2023 236 shares at a price of 3,499p per share for a total consideration of £8,257.64. The FTSE100 multinational alcoholic beverage company reported in its half year report last month that organic net sales were up 9% on the previous year while operating margin declined by 92bps in a challenging inflationary environment.
At the time of writing, shares were trading at 3,558.5p, down 1.49% for the year to date and -2% over the last 12 months.
British American Tobacco LON:BATS Non Executive Director, Karen Guerra, urchased on 10th February, 3,300 shares at a price of 3,055p per share for a total consideration of £100,815. The multinational company cigarette and tobacco manufacturer is in the process of transforming the business to one that offers “a greater choice of enjoyable and less risky products*† for our consumers”. Year end results released this month suggest that the business is ahead of its targets, noting “we are confident in our £5bn revenue target by 2025, and now expect New Category profitability in 2024, one year ahead of plan”
Shares were trading at 3,123p, down 6.6% for the year to date and -8.4% over the last 12 months.
Crest Nicholson LON:CRST Group Operations Director, David Marchant purchased, on 8th February, 6,069 shares at a price of 245.73 for a total consideration of £14,912. The Housebuilder saw revenues up 16% on the back of a guidance upgrade at the interim mark in 2022. The group has noted the uncertainty and headwinds the sector is currently facing but has recognised ‘signs of resilience that has characterised the housing market through recent years’ at the start of 2023.
At the time of writing, shares were trading at 240.6p, down 1.31% for the year to date and -26% over the last 12 months.
Mkango Resources [LON:MKA] CEO, William Dawes, has purchased 800,000 shares a price of 12.85p per share for a total consideration of £10,280. The business is involved in the development of new sustainable primary and secondary sources of neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium to supply accelerating demand from electric vehicles, wind turbines and other clean technologies. A recent placing has raised £3.5m with proceeds going towards finalising an agreement for the Songwe Hill Rare Earths Project with the Malawi Government and initiating a new rare earth magnet recycling facility in Germany.
Shares were trading at 13.19p, down 2.3% for the year to date and -45% over the last 12 months.
Gensource Potash Corporation [LON:GSP] Director Michael Ferguson acquired 100,000 shares through two transactions in February at $0.135 per share for a total consideration of $13,500, while another Director, Alton Anderson acquired 50,000 shares on 10th February 10 at $0.14 per share for a toal cost of $7,000. Non Executive Directors Michael Mueller and Amy O’Shea have also recently purchased 140,000 shares ($0.14) and 100,000 shares ($0.13) respectively. Gencource, a fertilizer development company focused on sustainable potash production saw a recent placing raise $1.8m for the advancement of its Tugaske Project.
Shares were trading at 17p at the time of writing, up 36% this year and -13% for the last 12 months.
Here’s why Director Dealings can play an important role in stock-picking