Two of the biggest director deals over the past week involve company founders at bus and train operator Stagecoach (SGC) and construction firm Morgan Sindall (MGNS) who have decided to sell down their stakes.
Sir Brian Souter and his sister Dame Ann Gloag, who founded Stagecoach, have sold almost 11.6 million of their shares in the business.
The siblings cut their holdings by the equivalent of a 2.1% stake as part of a plan to reduce the family ownership from 27.1% to 5% over the coming decade.
The sale sent Stagecoach shares tumbling 7.6% yesterday to 92.2p. Souter, who is now a non-executive director at the firm, insisted he and his sister ‘remain significant long-term shareholders in Stagecoach and remain supportive of the company’s strategy and management team.’
Stagecoach shares are still over a third below their pre-pandemic level, with the embattled operator hit hard by lockdown restrictions, while there’s also questions as to whether the firm will ever see travel recover to prior levels given the rise of home working.
MORGAN SINDALL FOUNDER SELLS £13 MILLION STAKE
Another company founder who has sold some of his shares is John Morgan, the chief executive of Morgan Sindall. Morgan sold a 1% stake last week, netting him a cool £13 million after offloading the shares at £20.50 each.
The company’s shares are currently trading at all-time highs and spiked last week after the firm put out an unscheduled trading update in which it revealed it’s now on track to deliver a full year performance that’s ‘significantly ahead’ of previous expectations.
Morgan Sindall is a running Shares Great Idea and even with the share price momentum we think the business is an inexpensive way to play the economic recovery on a 2021 price to earnings ratio of 12.2, boosted by an internally driven increase in profitability and exposure to bumper infrastructure spending.
OTHER DEALS
Simon Philips, a non-executive director of digital mental health platform Kooth (KOO:AIM), has sold three million shares in the business at a price of 350p each in a deal worth £10.5 million.
Roger McDowell, non-executive director at hazardous waste management services firm Augean (AUG:AIM), has sold one million shares in the business at a price of 217p each in a deal worth over £2.1 million.
For a full list of the week’s most significant trades, click here.
