Director dealings: Restaurant Group director buying offers little support

31st Aug 2016 13:34

(ShareCast News) - Restaurant Group director Mike Tye followed his chairwoman's recent purchase and picked up his first shares in the beleaguered owner of the Frankie & Benny's and Garfunkels chains, though both deals are already well under water. Non-executive Tye bought 7,284 shares in the company at a price of 409.76p on Tuesday, costing him around £30,000.This followed chair Debbie Hewitt's acquisition of 17,325 shares last week at a price of 432.90p.Investors seemed less keen to follow the pair's example than analysts at Citi, which downgraded the stock to 'sell' from 'neutral' and cut the price target to 320p from 350p.Citi said that while there may be valuation support on a sum-of-the-parts basis, the company still faces significant trading headwinds."Whilst we think recent management appointments of a new CFO and CEO are positive steps in the group's rehabilitation, we suggest there could be further store closures and exceptional costs as new management looks to revitalise the leisure operations."Shares in RTN were down almost 7% by mid afternoon on Wednesday to 368.9p. Top Director BuysAviva (AV.)Director name: Stoddard,TomAmount purchased: 51,527 @ 509.00pValue: £262,272.44Restaurant Group (RTN)Director name: Tye,MichaelAmount purchased: 7,284 @ 409.76pValue: £29,846.92Air Partner (AIR)Director name: Saunders,PeterAmount purchased: 5,000 @ 456.00pValue: £22,800.00Macfarlane Group (MACF)Director name: Love,JohnAmount purchased: 25,000 @ 61.00pValue: £15,250.00Iomart Group (IOM)Director name: Logan,RichardAmount purchased: 4,000 @ 306.00pValue: £12,240.00Macfarlane Group (MACF)Director name: Paterson,Stuart RAmount purchased: 20,000 @ 60.36pValue: £12,072.00Air Partner (AIR)Director name: Smith,Shaun MAmount purchased: 2,327 @ 448.00pValue: £10,424.96Mortgage Advice Bureau (holdings) (MAB1)Director name: Imlach,Nathan James McLeanAmount purchased: 405 @ 336.00pValue: £1,360.80Mortgage Advice Bureau (holdings) (MAB1)Director name: Verdin ,Richard Amount purchased: 352 @ 336.00pValue: £1,182.723i Group (III)Director name: Wilson,JuliaAmount purchased: 24 @ 615.00pValue: £147.60Top Director SellsSpire Healthcare Group (SPI)Director name: Gordon,SimonAmount sold: 92,174 @ 350.40pValue: £322,977.69Aviva (AV.)Director name: Stoddard,TomAmount sold: 24,304 @ 418.21pValue: £101,641.75Henderson Diversified Income Ltd. (HDIV)Director name: Manduca,Paul V F SAmount sold: 50,000 @ 94.50pValue: £47,250.00Iomart Group (IOM)Director name: Haran,SarahAmount sold: 6,000 @ 306.00pValue: £18,360.00Iomart Group (IOM)Director name: Haran,SarahAmount sold: 3,000 @ 300.00pValue: £9,000.00Iomart Group (IOM)Director name: Haran,SarahAmount sold: 3,000 @ 295.00pValue: £8,850.00Iomart Group (IOM)Director name: Logan,RichardAmount sold: 2,000 @ 310.00pValue: £6,200.00Iomart Group (IOM)Director name: Logan,RichardAmount sold: 2,000 @ 310.00pValue: £6,200.00