Nader Tavakoli (Insider Trades), CEO of Ambac Financial Group Inc. (AMBC), acquired 12,000 shares in the company Sept. 20. The price per share was $18.06 for a total transaction of $216,720.
Ambac is a holding company whose subsidiaries – Ambac Assurance Corp., Everspand Financial Guarantee Corp. and Ambac Assurance UL Limited – provide financial guarantees and other financial services to clients in both the public and private sectors globally. Ambac has a market cap of $818.51 million.
There were no insider trades with Ambac from 2012 to 2014. In 2015, there were five insider buys totaling 67,925 shares of AMBC. There have been twice the number of insider buys and more than twice the number of insider shares acquired to date in 2016 when compared to 2015 insider trade data. Nader purchased a majority of – 181,341 out of the 208,661 – shares acquired by Ambac insiders this year to date. The number of insider shares purchased increased starting in July 2015 shortly after a decrease in Ambac's month-end price. For more information about insider trades with Ambac, click here.
The company reported a decrease in net income from $282.695 million, or $6.05 per share, to $58.355 million, or $1.29 per share, in the second quarters of 2015 and 2016. Total revenue also decreased from $230.752 million to $106.732 million when comparing the same time periods. Tavakoli commented that the company is “pleased to report another successful quarter.” Tavakoli also highlighted the reduction in the company’s insured portfolio by 7%, or $7 billion, to $94 billion as well as the 5.4% reduction of adversely classified credits to $18 billion. The company also “further streamlined [its] operating platform by further reducing [its] head count.” Ambac's annual net income and annual revenue follow a decreasing trend line.
The company noted that Brexit adversely affected net income due to the impact of foreign exchange on the company’s assets and liabilities.
Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio) and Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) both reduced their stakes in Ambac during the second quarter. Royce sold 29,000 shares of the company at an average per share price of $16.04, decreasing his holding by 6.87%. The total estimated gain of the holding since the third quarter of 2013 is -3%. Simons decreased his stake in the company by 36,166 shares after acquiring a stake in the company in the previous quarter. Simons initially purchased 101,400 shares of Ambac for an average per share price of $14.47 during the first quarter. For more information about guru trades with Ambac, click here.
For more stock trades of gurus in real time, visit GuruFocus’ Real Time Picks, a Premium Feature.
Start a free seven-day trial of Premium Membership to GuruFocus.
