Directors dealings: Travis Perkins COO buys despite uncertainty

20th Oct 2016 17:09

(ShareCast News) - Travis Perkins's newly-appointed chief operating officer Tony Buffin picked up another handful of shares in the timber and builders' merchant.The purchase followed his promotion to that post from his earlier role as group finance director on 20 September and came in the wake of the company's third quarter trading update.Buffin bought 3,000 shares at an individual price of 1,402p on 19 October, for a total consideration of £42,050.37, the company said in a statement.He was accompanied by Christopher Rogers, one of the firm's non-executive directors, who bought another £49,749.02 of stock.On that same day, Travis Perkins said market conditions have worsened and that it had decided to close more than 40 sites and launch a cost-cutting programme.The FTSE 100 group added that that while its consumer, contracts and general merchanting businesses had outperformed the market, with total sales growing 3.4% in the three-months to the end of September and like-for-like (LFL) growth of 2.0%, its full year profits were likely to disappoint.That prompted Numis analysts Howard Seymour, Chris Millington and Christen Hjorth to tell clients that: "Travis Perkins Q3 is as expected, with the exception of weak trading in P&H and a wider announced reduction in branch numbers. We believe the speed of movement by management should be applauded, but clearly reflects an uncertain outlook which is likely to prevail at least until Q2 2017 in terms of both market outlook and the dynamics of price/cost inflation vs. gross margins."In the same research note, Numis cut its target price on the stock from 1600p to 1545p.Top Director BuysTravis Perkins (TPK)Director name: Walker,Robert MAmount purchased: 10,378 @ 1,402.50pValue: £145,551.45Lombard Risk Management (LRM)Director name: Brown ,Alastair Amount purchased: 540,540 @ 9.25pValue: £49,999.95Travis Perkins (TPK)Director name: Rogers ,Christopher Amount purchased: 3,600 @ 1,381.92pValue: £49,749.02Travis Perkins (TPK)Director name: Buffin ,Tony Amount purchased: 3,000 @ 1,401.68pValue: £42,050.37U And I Group (UAI)Director name: Weiner,MatthewAmount purchased: 16,000 @ 159.75pValue: £25,560.00Schroder Asian Total Return Investment Company (ATR)Director name: Keljik,Christopher AAmount purchased: 8,000 @ 266.59pValue: £21,327.20Lombard Risk Management (LRM)Director name: Gurney,NigelAmount purchased: 168,961 @ 9.00pValue: £15,206.49Johnson Matthey (JMAT)Director name: Garner,Nicholas Amount purchased: 12 @ 3,469.58pValue: £416.35Johnson Matthey (JMAT)Director name: Walker,JohnAmount purchased: 12 @ 3,469.58pValue: £416.35U And I Group (UAI)Director name: Shepherd ,Marcus Amount purchased: 20,000 @ 1.65pValue: £329.16Johnson Matthey (JMAT)Director name: Garner,Nicholas Amount purchased: 9 @ 3,469.58pValue: £312.26Johnson Matthey (JMAT)Director name: Farrant,SimonAmount purchased: 9 @ 3,469.58pValue: £312.26Pennon Group (PNN)Director name: Loughlin,ChristopherAmount purchased: 18 @ 843.35pValue: £151.80Kingfisher (KGF)Director name: Witts,KarenAmount purchased: 42 @ 360.50pValue: £151.41Pennon Group (PNN)Director name: Davy ,Susan Amount purchased: 15 @ 843.35pValue: £126.50Top Director SellsDamille Investments Ii Ltd (DIL2)Director name: Davies,Rhys CathanAmount sold: 139,886 @ 118.30pValue: £165,485.13Travis Perkins (TPK)Director name: Walker,Robert MAmount sold: 10,378 @ 1,402.50pValue: £145,551.45