Investing.com -- Here is your Pro Recap of the biggest insider trades and institutional investor headlines you may have missed last week: Corvex doubles stake in Southwest Gas, Ancora supports Forward Air’s decision to terminate Omni Logistics merger, Satori's Dan Niles covers shorts in Tesla and Apple and looks to re-short higher, and top brass buys at Truist Financial, Nasdaq, and Commercial Metals.
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Corvex doubles stake in Southwest Gas, seeks possible sale of utility business
Corvex Management LP, a hedge fund, more than doubled its stake in Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX), disclosed at the end of the June quarter - to 4,153,717 shares, or 5.8% of the company.
Corvex says it aims to discuss potential strategies to maximize the company's value with the board, particularly its core utility franchises and Centuri Group investment. Corvex says that, while it supports Southwest's plan to separate Centuri, it believes Southwest Gas seems to be trading at or below its currently authorized rate base. It says that the implied valuation represents a "deep discount to underlying value, market comps, and recent transactions" and suggested the company may need to address this if that disconnect persists. Corvex added that "similar assets trade at a 1.5-2.0x rate base."
Corvex also believes Southwest’s ambitious $2 billion capital plan "clearly does not make sense if growth capital results in a market valuation less than cost."
The hedge fund said it expects to engage with Southwest on ways to enhance shareholder value, including by improving earned returns on capital, further restructuring, or an outright sale of the company.
Ancora supports Forward Air’s decision to seek termination of the Omni Logistics merger
Ancora Holdings Group, a leading shareholder of Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD), backed Forward Air's recently disclosed position that Omni Logistics has violated the terms of their merger agreement, first announced in mid-August.
“In light of this, we – and presumably a critical mass of our fellow shareholders – fully support leadership’s decision to explore a termination of the merger agreement,” said Ancora.
The stock took a huge hit after the merger's August announcement, with Ancora and other key shareholders opposing the deal and three former Forward Air executives and current shareholders filing a lawsuit to block the deal last month.
Despite a judge dissolving a restraining order related to the merger, Forward Air accuses Omni of not meeting certain obligations in the merger agreement, and said it will not be obligated to close.
Satori's Dan Niles covers shorts in Tesla and Apple and looks to re-short higher
Satori Fund’s Dan Niles stated on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that he has covered his short positions in Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) but is eyeing opportunities to re-short at higher levels.
Tesla's stock has been slumping recently following worse-than-expected Q3 deliveries and earnings results. In October alone, Tesla shares slid nearly 20%, hitting their lowest level in five months this past Thursday.
Apple has also been moving lower, although not in as strong a downtrend as Tesla.
A trio of insider buys
Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) CEO, William Rogers (NYSE:ROG), purchased 10,000 common shares, or worth around $280,000, at an average price of $28.048 per share.
Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Director, Johan Torgeby, purchased 14,000 common shares, or worth more than $700,000, at $50.42.
Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) President and CEO, Peter Matt, purchased 6,200 common shares, or worth nearly $250,000, at $40.30.
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