Insider Cluster Buys Reported at 52-Week Lows

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May 14, 2013
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In the past week, three different companies reported insider cluster buys involving three or more corporate executives. The following three companies are also nearing or sitting at their 52-week lows in price.

1. Digital River (DRIV)

Digital River reported four insider buys this past week. These buys came from CEO David Dobson, Director Thomas Madison, VP and General Counsel Kevin Cruddlen and CFO Stefan Schulz.



CEO David Dobson made the largest transaction by adding 30,000 shares to his stake. The shares traded at an average price of $14.88 for a total transaction amount of $446,400. Dobson now owns at least 419,474 shares of DRIV. Since his buy, the price of the stock has increased 10.15%.

The other three insiders added a combined total of 11,030 shares at an average price of $14.92 per share.

These insider buys come as the company stabilizes from its upper management shuffle which included the hiring of David Dobson as CEO.

Digital River provides services and solutions for global e-commerce. The company builds and manages online businesses for more than 40,000 software publishers, consumer technology manufacturers, distributors, online retailers and affiliates.

The company recently reported their first quarter earnings statement which highlighted the following:

· A revenue of $113.7 million, up 11% year over year

· Non-GAAP EPS of $0.33 per diluted share, up 10% from first quarter 2012

· The company grew enterprise commerce by 19% year-over-year

· This is the second consecutive quarter reporting more than 60% organic growth in payments revenue.

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The company is currently nearing its 52-week low price.

There are currently five gurus that hold stake in Digital River. Steven Cohen leads the pack by owning 1,832,261 shares of the company.

With its shares up 0.18%, DRIV trades at $16.42.

2. FNB United Corp (FNBN)

In the past week FNB United’s price hit a 10-year low and was sitting under $7 per share. This triggered a series of insider buys coming from five corporate executives and one director. These insiders made a total of seven different buys in the last seven days.

The insiders include: CEO Brian Simpson, Director Chandler Martin, President Robert Reid, Executive VP and Secretary Beth DeSimone, Treasurer Angus McBryde, Chief Workout Officer Greg Murphy and CFO David Nielsen.

These insiders bought a combined total of 53,384 shares in the range of $6.20 to $6.93 per share. These buys cost the insiders a total of $336,915.



FNB United is a bank holding company for CommunityOne Bank and Bank of Granite which provide consumer wealth management, mortgage services and business banking services to individual and business customers in North Carolina.

The analysis on FNB United shows that the per share earnings and revenue have been in decline for the past five years.

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The company recently reported that it will release its first quarter earnings statement on May 17, 2013.

As reported in the company’s 10-K, FNB United’s nonperforming assets make up a total of 6.22% of the company’s total assets. The company’s equity-to-asset ratio is at 5%. According to the GuruFocus analysis, FNB’s equity-to-asset is lower than 93% of the companies in the American Regional Banking Sector.

There are currently no gurus that hold stake in FNB.

With its shares down an additional 2.64%, FNBN trades at $7.02.

3. First Mid-Illinois Bancshares (FMBH)

On May 9, First Mid-Illinois Bancshares reported six separate insider buys. These insider buys came as FMBH is nearing a 52-week low price. The six insiders consist of Executive VP and CCo John Hedges, President of FMIB&T Joseph Dively, Senior VP Clay Dean, Executive VP Eric McRae, Executive VP of Wealth Management Charles LeFebvre and Director Ray Sparks.

These insider bought a rather small total of 1,000 shares at an average price of $22.86. This cost the insiders a combined total of $22,860. Since their buys, the price of the stock has decreased 2.67%.



The company is in a stable condition as shown by their consistent per share revenue growth. The P/E ratio is close to a three-year low of 13.4 and the P/N ratio is close to a 10-year low of 0.77. FMBH received a 4-star rating on the GuruFocus Business Predictability Rank.

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First Mid-Illinois Bancshares is the parent company of First Mid-Illinois Bank & Trust, Mid-Illinois Data Services and First Mid Insurance Group. Since 1865, the company has grown into a $1.5 billion community-based business that provides financial services through a network of 38 locations in 25 Illinois communities.

First Mid-Illinois’ most recent 10-Q filing reported:

· A net income of $3.528 million, up from $3.39 million from the first quarter of 2012.

· Fully diluted EPS of $0.41. Stayed the same from first quarter 2012.

· An equity-to-asset ratio of 9.96%.

· The nonperforming assets make up 0.5% of the company’s total assets.

The company was recently voted one of the top 200 community banks in America by American Banker.

There are currently no gurus that hold a stake in FMBH.

First Mid-Illinois currently trades at $22.25.

To take a look at all of the insider cluster buys, click here.