Director dealings: Wife of Howden Joinery's Robert Fenwick lowers stake

Elizabeth Fenwick, the wife of Howden Joinery director Robert Fenwick, disposed of 70,000 ordinary shares in the FTSE 250 resident on Monday morning.

Fenwick offloaded the shares at an average price of 464.89p each, for a total of £325,423.

Robert Fenwick, who joined the group in 2001, has been responsible for transforming Howden's supply division from a vertically integrated operation to a commercial organisation since October 2005.

Analysts at Canaccord Genuity lifted their target price on Howden Joinery to 525p from 515p in late July; however, the broker opted to downgrade the group to 'hold' from 'buy' as it sought clarity on where group growth would come from.

With Howden continuing to deliver "a good performance" in a difficult UK market while flexing its pricing and volume focus, new chief executive CEO Andrew Livingston alluded to further opportunities to build on the firm's core business model by expanding its product range, upgrading its IT and digital offering.

Canaccord expects some gross margin improvement in the second half of the year and stated that it believes Howden remained "well-positioned" to continue to outperform the wider UK market "given its strengths".

As of 1500 BST, Howden shares had dipped 0.37% to 463.30p.

Top Director Buys

Essentra (ESNT)
Director name: Forman,Paul
Amount purchased: 20,000 @ 472.40p
Value: £94,480.00

Caspian Sunrise (CASP)
Director name: Limerick,Edmund
Amount purchased: 480,000 @ 10.25p
Value: £49,200.00

Non-standard Finance (NSF)
Director name: Cresswell-Turner,Miles
Amount purchased: 31,591 @ 63.31p
Value: £19,999.63

Non-standard Finance (NSF)
Director name: Cresswell-Turner,Miles
Amount purchased: 31,261 @ 63.97p
Value: £19,997.66

Infrastrata (INFA)
Director name: Wood,John
Amount purchased: 2,220,335 @ 0.63p
Value: £13,965.91

Non-standard Finance (NSF)
Director name: Cresswell-Turner,Miles
Amount purchased: 15,869 @ 63.01p
Value: £9,999.37

Caffyns (CFYN)
Director name: Wright,Richard
Amount purchased: 2,188 @ 446.00p
Value: £9,758.48

Phoenix Global Mining Limited (di) (PGM)
Director name: Cohen,Andre
Amount purchased: 300,000 @ 3.11p
Value: £9,315.00

Phoenix Global Mining Limited (di) (PGM)
Director name: Cohen,Andre
Amount purchased: 200,000 @ 3.11p
Value: £6,210.00

New Century Aim Vct 2 (NCA2)
Director name: Barnard,Michael David
Amount purchased: 7,860 @ 63.00p
Value: £4,951.80

Marshalls (MSLH)
Director name: Clarke,Jack
Amount purchased: 35 @ 427.50p
Value: £149.63

Marshalls (MSLH)
Director name: Coffey,Martyn
Amount purchased: 35 @ 427.50p
Value: £149.63

Top Director Sells

Howden Joinery Group (HWDN)
Director name: Fenwick,Robert
Amount sold: 70,000 @ 464.89p
Value: £325,423.00

Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM)
Director name: Raby,Pete
Amount sold: 9,883 @ 352.40p
Value: £34,827.69

Phoenix Global Mining Limited (di) (PGM)
Director name: Cohen,Andre
Amount sold: 300,000 @ 3.10p
Value: £9,300.00

Phoenix Global Mining Limited (di) (PGM)
Director name: Cohen,Andre
Amount sold: 200,000 @ 3.10p
Value: £6,200.00