Insiders may sell shares for any number of reasons, but there
is really only one reason insiders buy shares of a company --
they believe the stock price will move higher and they want to
profit from it. Pullbacks and sell-offs provide a perfect
opportunity for investors who have faith in a company to snap up
shares. Here are some stocks that have seen insider buying
recently.
AGCO
(NYSE:
AGCO
): One director purchased more than 596,000 shares of this
agricultural equipment maker in the past week, worth more than
$26 million. AGCO recently said it would boost manufacturing in
Brazil and China, and it has a market capitalization of about
$4.3 billion. Its return on equity is almost 23 percent and its
price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is less than the industry average.
Shares have pulled back almost seven percent in the past month,
and the stock has underperformed competitors Deere (NYSE:
DE
) and Kubota (NYSE:
KUB
) over the past six months.
First Financial Bankshares
(NASDAQ:
FFIN
): The chairman and CEO bought almost 133,000 shares of this
regional bank recently. That was worth almost $4.7 million. The
bank's market cap is about $1.1 billion and its dividend yield is
about 2.7 percent. The long-term EPS growth forecast is about 10
percent. Short interest is near 16 percent of the float. Shares
are up more than five percent in the past week following an
earnings beat. The stock has outperformed the broader markets
over the past six months, but it has underperformed competitor
Texas Capital Bancshares (NASDAQ:
TCBI
).
MEMC Electronic Materials
(NYSE:
WFR
): Earlier this week, the CEO purchased more than 83,000 shares,
worth more than $200,000. Also, a director scooped up more than
3.2 million shares of this semiconductor company earlier this
month. Its market cap is about $600 million. The long-term EPS
growth forecast is about 15 percent, but the return on equity is
in negative territory and the short interest is about 10% of the
float. Shares have popped about 15 percent in the past week but
are still more than 36 percent lower year to date. The stock has
outperformed Analog Devices (NASDAQ:
ADI
), Broadcom (NASDAQ:
BRCM
) and the broader markets over the past six months.
See also:
MEMC Announces New Appointments to Board of
Directors
Navistar
(NYSE:
NAV
): A director bought 127,000 shares this week. That was worth
more than $2.4 million. Activist investor Carl Icahn, also has
been periodically buying shares of this truck maker, most
recently in late October. Navistar has a market cap of about $1.3
billion. Its long-term earnings per share (
EPS
) growth forecast is less than nine percent. Short interest is
about 19 percent of the float. Shares are down about 48 percent
year to date, and the stock has underperformed competitors
Oshkosh (NYSE:
OSK
) and PACCAR (NASDAQ:
PCAR
) over the past six months.
See also:
Navistar Closing Texas Truck Plant
J.C. Penney
(NYSE:
JCP
): A director bought 126,000 shares last week, which is worth
more than $2.0 million. This Plano, Texas-based retailer posted a
wider-than-expected third-quarter loss earlier this month. It has
a market cap of near $3.8 billion. Short interest is more than 30
percent of the float, and the return on equity in in the red.
Shares fell to a multiyear low following the third-quarter report
but are up about five percent in the past week, as well as up on
Black Friday. Over the past six months, the stock has
underperformed competitors Kohl's (NYSE:
KSS
) and Macy's (NYSE:
M
).
See also:
These 10 Stocks Are Heavily Shorted
Investors interested in exchange traded funds focused on
insider sentiment might want to consider the following
trades.
- Guggenheim Insider Sentiment (NYSE:
NFO
) is up more than nine percent year to date.
- Direxion All Cap Insider Sentiment Shares (NYSE:
KNOW
) is up about eight percent year to date.
Traders may prefer to consider these alternative positions to
some of the stocks listed above:
- Terex (NASDAQ:
TEX
) is more than 65 percent higher year to date.
- Texas Capital Bancshares (NASDAQ:
TCBI
) is about 41 percent higher year to date.
- Oshkosh (NYSE:
OSK
) is about 40 percent higher year to date.
- Dillard's (NYSE:
DDS
) is almost 96 percent higher year to date.
See also:
BlackRock, Cracker Barrel and Other Stocks
Insiders Are Buying
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