Insider Buying at Intertape Polymer

Quebec’s Intertape Polymer Group is delivering a better bottom line thanks to a move towards higher margin products. After a rise that has lasted for most of this year, shares of Intertape Polymer (TSX:ITP) have pulled back of late, closing today at $7.17 after hitting $9 earlier this month.

Company insiders, however, think the party isn’t quite over.

On Tuesday, IPG CEO Gregory Yull bought 17,289 shares of his own company in the open market at prices ranging from $6.89 to $7.08. He got a slightly better deal than insider George Bunze, who bought 10,000 shares at $7.41 yesterday.

On August 15th, the Quebec-based company reported Q2, 2012 financials in which it lost $3.4-million on revenue of $197.7-million, down slightly from the 209.7-million it posted in the same period last year.

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Intertape Polymer, which has been around since the early 1980′s, grew rapidly through acquisition in the 1990′s. The company now does nearly $800-million in annual revenues, selling specialty tapes, stretch wrap, shrink films and engineered coated fabrics. Intertape’s stock chart looked like a ski hill for much of the past decade, as it was posting some hefty losses competing with giants like 3M in an inherently low-margin business. But shares of the company have risen following an emphasis on selling higher margins products while reducing operating costs. This continued a larger trend for Intertape, 2011′s adjusted EBITDA of $63.1-million represented an increase of 50.7%.

Now that it is back on terra firma, Intertape Polymer’s board has decided to pay back its shareholders. The company declared a dividend of $0.08 cents per share that will be paid on October 10, 2012 to shareholders of record at the close of September 21, 2012.

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