John Wood Group Sees Insider Buying After Apollo Takeover Falls Through

When a top-level corporate insider buys company shares, investors should take note. It’s not a stretch to say that these individuals are some of the most informed participants in the market.

In this report, we are going to highlight a large CEO purchase at John Wood Group PLC (WG/:LN). John Wood Group is an engineering and consultancy company that is focused on the energy and materials markets. A global operator, it has operations in over 60 countries worldwide. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and the US OTC markets and currently has a market cap of around £970.65 million.

Insider Buying at John Wood Group

Our insider transaction data shows that on May 17, CEO Ken Gilmartin purchased 300,000 shares at a price of $1.71 per share. This trade cost the insider approximately $513,000 and increased his holding to 611,845 shares.

Large Purchase 

It’s the size of the trade that stands out here. Not only is it large in nominal terms but it is also large in relative terms as it has increased the size of the CEO’s holding by 96%. This suggests that the insider sees a lot of value in the stock at present.

It’s worth noting that Mr. Gilmartin is not the only insider to buy stock here recently. On May 17, Jennifer Richmond, Executive President, Strategy & Development, also purchased shares. She picked up 59,300 shares at a price of $1.67 per share. Then, on May 18, Chairman Roy Franklin purchased 37,000 shares at a price of £1.38 per share.

Takeover Bid Pulled

This year, John Wood Group has received several non-binding takeover offers from Apollo Global Management. These offers have pushed its share price up significantly.

However, on May 15, Apollo announced that it would not be proceeding with a takeover of the firm. This sent John Wood stock down as much as 41%.

In an announcement following this development, John Wood’s board said that it remains confident in the company’s strategic direction and long-term prospects, and that it believes that it is well placed to deliver substantial value for shareholders. It added that there is good momentum across all business units at present.

Clearly, the insiders here believe that the sharp drop in the share price has presented a buying opportunity. We see their buying activity as a bullish development.