The Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) share price has had a solid start to the week.
In morning trade the embattled corporate travel specialist's shares are 4% higher at $21.90.
Why are Corporate Travel Management's shares on the rise?
Investors appear to have responded positively to news that Corporate Travel Management's directors have been busy buying shares.
According to two change of director's interest notices, the company's CEO Jamie Pherous and independent non-executive director Admiral Robert Natter have taken advantage of the sharp share price decline to top up their holdings.
On Friday Jamie Pherous bought 115,000 shares through an on-market trade for a total consideration of $2.43 million. This brought the CEO's total holding to a sizeable 20.6 million shares.
A week earlier Admiral Natter snapped up 12,000 shares for a total consideration of $269,883. This brought his holding up to 119,200 shares.
Judging by the size of the purchases, these directors have faith that it's business as usual at the company and appear to see the short seller attack as a buying opportunity.
Should you buy shares?
While I do think that Corporate Travel Management's shares are trading at a very attractive price given its strong long-term growth potential, I intend to hold off making an investment until the short seller attack drama with VGI Partners blows over.
Especially after management warned that "VGI may continue to make mischievous and misleading claims."
If the short seller releases a third report then there's a fair chance that the company's shares could sink lower again while it digests the release.
Because of this, for now I think investors would be better off taking a look at the shares of travel industry peers. Companies such as Helloworld Travel Ltd (ASX: HLO) and Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) could be worth a look in my opinion.
