TETRA Technologies, Inc. (TTI)

[frenchee]

Tetra CEO Makes a $1 Million Buy
By ALEXANDER EULE

Tables: Buyers | Sellers

HAVING WATCHED SHARES SLIDE 54% in six months, Tetra Technologies' chief executive officer decided it was time to become a buyer of his company's stock.

Geoffrey Hertel, president and CEO of the oil and gas services company, shelled out $998,000 for 70,000 shares on Thursday, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It was his first Tetra stock purchase in more than five years, according to InsiderScore.com.

Hertel's acquisition came at a per share price of $14.25 and on the same day Tetra touched a 52-week low of $13.78. Including exercisable options, Hertel now holds 562,109 shares, or slightly less than 1% of Tetra's outstanding stock.

Tetra specializes in the abandonment and decommissioning of offshore oil wells and is also a provider of drilling fluid.

After several years of selling company shares in preparation for retirement, Hertel says the Tetra stock slide caused him to reassess.

"I just decided that the stock was so cheap I had to buy it," Hertel tells Barron's Online. "Given where we were and where we think we're going to be, it just seemed like the appropriate thing to do."

Prior to Thursday's purchase, Hertel had made $30 million worth of stock and options-related sales in the last 18 months, according to InsiderScore.com

On Monday, Tetra provided 2008 earnings guidance that came in below Wall Street expectations. Still, Hertel said in a press release, "Certain recent events, coupled with improving fundamentals in our businesses, could set the stage for a much improved 2008 and continued growth thereafter."

In a conference call with investors, Hertel suggested Tetra had been conservative with its 2008 figures: "After missing our original guidance numbers in 2007, it should be understandable that we are reluctant to be too aggressive with numbers in 2008," he said.

Ben Silverman, director of research at InsiderScore.com says Hertel's purchase is a bullish signal for two reasons: "One, it reverses his recent history, going from a seller to a buyer." Silverman says. "Also, the amount of stock he purchased represents roughly a year's compensation for him."

In 2006, according to Tetra's proxy, Hertel made $855,000 in salary and cash bonus.

Analyst Richard Rossi of Ferris Baker Watts, a Baltimore investment bank, believes 2008 is likely to mark a transition for Tetra after a year plagued by adverse weather, delayed insurance settlements, high-cost inventory and execution issues.

"I think they've cleared the deck," Rossi says of the transition. He suggests future results could benefit from improved efficiencies and operations.

Rossi notes that the decommissioning of Gulf of Mexico drilling platforms damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita has proceeded slower than many expected but remains a significant opportunity for the company. He rates the company at Buy with a $24.50 price target.

Rossi is slightly more bullish than the average Wall Street analyst. According to Thomson Financial, the mean price target for Tetra shares is $23.93.

Tetra gained 29 cents Friday to close at $14.21.