The Insider: City deals uncovered

Bottom-fishing at Petrofac

Oil services giant Petrofac has had a terrible summer. A shock profits warning in May has wiped 29% off the company's valuation and the shares are stranded at a four-year low.

But there could be value here. Finance director Tim Weller certainly thinks so. Perhaps celebrating three years in the job, the highly-experienced bean counter has just bought 20,000 shares at 1,033p in a deal worth over £200,000. He now owns over 77,000 of them.

Half-year results, published last month, clearly failed to impress the market – revenue fell from $2.8 billion (£1.71 billion) to $2.5 billion and cash profits fell 16% to $340 million. However, the engineering, construction, operations and maintenance (ECOM) division enjoyed record order intake - up 35% at $20.3 billion - and at sector-leading margins.

Analysts at Investec Securities like management's revised strategy for the integrated energy services (IES) business "and an apparent material undervaluation mean we maintain our Buy recommendation." The broker thinks the shares are worth 1,290p. With an 18% stake, chief executive Ayman Asfari will like the sound of that.

However, given a run of profit warnings there remains a level of negative sentiment around the stock. That means the shares may test major technical support at between 980p and 990p before any sustainable recovery.

Seeing Machines' surprise seller

Seeing Machines has struck a number of big deals in recent weeks and the share price has doubled since early August to 8p. But the face and eye-tracking technology company isn't expected to make an annual profit until 2017, and the share price is susceptible to short-term swings in sentiment.

Heavy share-dealing has an impact, too. No surprises, then, that director Mike Roberts' decision to flog 8.5 million shares at 6.22p brought the price back down to earth.

Roberts, a former investment banker, has owned a big stake in the company since it floated in 2005, and even after this substantial sale has about five million left. Seeing Machines cited personal reasons for the sale. We've made enquiries but have been unable to find out more.

This latest sale comes five months after London-based Roberts offloaded 2.19 million shares to Ken Davis, Seeing Machines' new senior vice president of sales & marketing.

Despite these sales, the potential here remains both exciting and substantial. Broker finnCap has slapped a 12p price target on the shares. With big opportunities in both automotive and consumer electronics, that still looks achievable. It will, however, require patience.

This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.