Layle Smith (Insider Trades), President and CEO of Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp. (NOR), bought 196,000 shares on July 23, 2015. The average price per share was $0.51, for a total transaction of $99,960. Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp. is a North American producer of aluminum products with a market cap of 37.20 million and a P/S ratio of 0.03.
The month end price of the company decreased from $10.49 per share in January 2012, to about $0.53 in July 2015. This decrease in month end price correlates to an increase in insider buys; there were two insider buys in 2012, compared to nine in the first half of 2015 alone. 
Insider sales frequency and volume also increased since 2012. The number of insider sales increased from 2 transactions totaling 10 million shares of the company in 2012, to 3 transactions totaling 22.9 million in the first half of 2015. 
Smith bought 221,000 shares of the company in 3 transactions since 2010. For more information about insider trades with Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp., click here.
NOR reported a net loss of $25.4 million or $0.37 per share in the second quarter of 2015, compared to a net loss of $7.6 million or $0.11 per share in the second quarter of 2014. Smith stated, “aluminum prices have declined sharply” in the second quarter of 2015, and that Noranda’s “cash and available liquidity position supports [the business]” as the company focuses on other strategic priorities. Noranda’s board of directors approved a 1-for-7 reverse stock split on June 25, 2015. Stockholders of record as of July 24, 2015 will be eligible to vote on the stock split at a special meeting on this day. The reverse stock split will reduce the number of the company’s common stock from 200 million to 30 million. Noranda also obtained $15 million project-specific financing to complete a redraw rod mill at the company’s aluminum smelter in New Madrid, Missouri. The new mill will increase Noranda’s production capacity by approximately 43%, while also decreasing annual power cost by about $17 to $25 million. Production at the mill is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2016. Smith commented that obtaining financing to complete the new rod mill is another positive step for Noranda, the company will “remain focused on achieving operation excellence, making further improvements to [the company’s] cost structure.”
Two gurus increased their stake, and one guru decreased their stake in NOR in the first half of 2015. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC (Trades, Portfolio) increased their stake in NOR twice in the second quarter of 2015; Hotchkis & Wiley bought 965,615 shares of the company for an average price of $3.19 per share, and then 4,286,944 shares for an average price of $1.76. Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) of Tudor Investment Corp., bought 10,208 shares of NOR for an average price of $3.19 per share in the first quarter of 2015. This increased his stake in the company by 38.42%. Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio) of Royce & Associates LLC, sold 15,762 shares of NOR for an average price of $3.19 in the first quarter of 2015. For more information about guru transactions with Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp., click here.
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