For investors, following insiders can be a viable trading strategy. Corporate officers, board members, and investment funds are indeed careful about the way they allocate funds, so following their purchase activity can lead to great investment tips. More importantly, these are the entities with a more direct knowledge of the companies and business sectors. And they put that knowledge to use when planning stock purchases.
TipRanks offers the Insiders’ Hot Stocks, a data tool that tracks over 43,000 corporate insiders and reveals their latest moves. We’ve used it to find three affordably priced stocks that are showing positive insider signals. Looking for the stocks, we used the Major Event Strategy, the most successful of four filters available on TipRanks for sorting insider trades.
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBGI)
Sinclair is the largest TV operator in the US, reaching 40% of American households with 193 stations in 100 local markets. The network is focused mainly in the Midwest and South. TV, with its advertising reach, is a lucrative business and Sinclair generated revenues over $3 billion in FY2018.
Executive Chairman David D. Smith, son of the company’s founder, made the most recent insider purchase of SBGI stock, buying $21.7 million worth on July 10. The purchase increased his holding in the company by 395,000 shares, making him one of the largest shareholders in Sinclair.
This insider purchase came just one day before five-star analyst Daniel Kurnos, of Benchmark, affirmed his buy rating and $90 price target on the stock. Smith’s purchase, and Kurnos’s review, come after the company publicized Q2 revenue guidance of $721 million – in line with previous estimates, and one month before the August 8 Q2 earnings release. In his note to investors, Kurnos says, “Sinclair completed the RSN-Charter (CHTR) negotiations, that Dish (DISH) remains the biggest “wildcard” for the RSNs, but he is optimistic Sinclair will prevail.” His price target, with its 52% upside for the stock, reflects his optimism.
Overall, Sinclair has a strong buy analyst consensus rating, with a unanimous 5 buys over the past three months. Shares are selling for $59, and the $69 average price target indicates an 18% upside potential.
Eidos Therapeutics, Inc. (EIDX)
Biotech offers great opportunity it any company able to find a solid niche. Eidos Therapeutics focuses on developing new treatments for the two forms of transthyretin (TTR) amyloidosis (ATTR) disease. While the two disease forms – cardiomyopathy and polyneuropathy – manifest differently, they share the same cause. Eidos is working on a drug, AG10, designed to stabilize the malformed protein (TTR) that causes ATTR disease.
Research of this type requires a great deal of capital, and that can be raised through stock sales. Recently, on July 8, Eidos received a capital infusion greater than $100 million, when four major stock owners increased their holdings. BridgeBio Pharma, the parent company of Eidos, along with three top company officers – Neil Kumar, CEO, and Ali Satvat and Eric Aguiar, both on the Board of Directors – all purchased $26.3 million worth of EIDX common shares. The transactions brought the total corporate insider purchases of EIDX in the last three months to $218.35 million – a clear vote of confidence by company officers in Eidos’ research pipeline and future prospects.
Their optimism is borne out by a recent analyst review. Yasmeen Rahimi, of Roth Capital, believes “Eidos Therapeutics to maintain and even expedite enrollment into its Phase 3 ATTRibute-CM trial.” She also notes “an increase in AG10’s annual price from $150,000 to $225,000 and Probability of Success adjustment from 70% to 80%.” In line with the upbeat prospects for the drug, she boosted her price target on EIDX by 45%, from $28 to $51. Her new price target suggests an upside potential of 27% for the stock.
In the last three months, Eidos as received 2 buy ratings, giving it a moderate buy from the analyst consensus. The average price target of $44.50 suggests an 11% upside from the current share price of $39.97.
Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (BECN)
Economic experts predict that the US housing market, which has shown a slowing trend since 2017, will continue to weaken into 2020. Slowing population growth, combined with lower incomes and higher debt levels among the millennial age cohort, are putting downward pressure on housing starts.
But there is always some demand for new housing, and construction companies like Beacon Roofing, North America’s largest supplier of roofing products to the residential and commercial construction sectors, will always have customers. This optimistic outlook is borne out by Cd&R Investment Associates IX recent purchase, back on June 28, of $158 million worth of BECN stock. A purchase of this size, by an investment group, is a clear signal of confidence in the stock.
A look at the analyst reviews will help to explain the confidence. SunTrust’s Keith Hughes said, on March 26, “that while adverse weather factors reduced expectations, the outlook for the rest of the year suggests minimal impact in future quarters. [R]oofing can actually see benefits from weather factors over the medium term as replacement demand rises.” Hughes set a price target of $44, suggesting an upside of 18%.
Weighing in just last month, Raymond James analyst Sam Darkatsh concurred on the buy rating, and gave BECN a $40 price target.
BECN’s analyst consensus rating is a moderate buy, with 1 buy and 2 hold ratings given in the last 90 days. Shares are selling for $37.20, so the average price target of $40 indicates a possible 7.5% upside.
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