Bed Bath & Beyond stock has slipped to lows, but insiders at the home-furnishings retailer have just bought nearly half a million dollars of stock.
Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
Not all so-called meme stocks rocket in value like GameStop and AMC Entertainment Holdings . Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond prove the point, with a double-digit decline last year and more in 2022.
That red ink may have spurred a flurry of buying by insiders at the home-furnishings retailer. Executives and a director snapped up nearly half a million dollars of shares on Jan. 7.
Bed Bath & Beyond
stock (ticker: BBBY) stock dropped 18% in 2021, compared with a 27% rise in the S&P 500 index. So far in 2022, shares are down 5.2%, compared with a 0.8% drop in the index. This week, Bed Bath & Beyond stock traded to as low as $12.51, its lowest price since September 2020.
Chief Financial Officer Gustavo Arnal led the buying, paying $207,150 for 15,000 shares, an average per-share price of $13.81. According to a form he filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Arnal now owns 333,196 Bed Bath & Beyond shares.
Bed Bath & Beyond didn’t respond to a request to make Arnal or any of the insiders who bought stock available for comment. Arnal most recently bought stock in November, when he paid $255,550 for 12,500 shares, an average price of $20.44 each.
Rafeh Masood, executive vice president and chief customer officer, paid $98,000 for 7,000 Bed Bath & Beyond shares, an average per-share price of $14. He now owns 153,391 shares. It was the first open-market stock purchase for Masood, who joined Bed Bath & Beyond in May 2020. Most of the shares he owns are from grants of restricted stock units, or RSUs.
Director Joshua Schechter paid $83,160 for 6,000 shares, an average price of $13.86 each. He now owns 35,087 shares. Schechter, a private investor, last purchased stock in April 2021, when he paid $75,000 for 3,000 shares, a per-share average price of $25.02.
Joe Hartsig, executive VP and chief merchandising officer, paid $68,900 for 5,000 shares, a per-share average price of $13.78. He now owns 221,528 Bed Bath & Beyond shares. It was the first open-market stock purchase for Hartsig, who joined the company in March 2020. Most of the shares he owns are from grants of RSUs.
Inside Scoop is a regular Barron’s feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members—so-called insiders—as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.
Write to Ed Lin at [email protected] and follow @BarronsEdLin.
