When it comes to investing, there's no sure-fire way to know when to hold and when to fold. You do your homework and chart the numbers to make an educated guess, but the truth is, anything can happen -- it's just the nature of the market.
To get the skinny on your stock holdings, what you really need is a guy on the inside. But corporate espionage also carries with it a hefty prison sentence -- and we don't recommend going down the Martha Stewart road.
A more ethical (and legal) alternative? Pay attention to insider trading volume. Is company management snapping up its own stock? Their optimism might be a good indication of a solid investment -- after all, they know more about the company than anyone else.
The stocks in our list have been lagging behind the rest of the market over the past three months. But insiders have been taking advantage of recent weakness in their company's shares, seizing the moment to buy them up at a discount.
Here is a list of nine underperforming stocks being snapped up by insiders. Insider trading data sourced from Marketwatch. (Click here if you want to access free interactive tools to analyze these ideas.)
|
Company |
Insider Trades |
Quarterly Stock Performance |
|---|---|---|
|
AMEDISYS |
Insiders like Donald Washburn (Director), Jake Netterville (Director), Dale Redman (CFO), and David Bucey have collectively bought $343,160 worth of stock in August |
-37.75% |
|
American Public Education |
Timothy Weglicki (Director) bought $98,838 worth of stock in August 12 |
-19.57% |
|
BancorpSouth |
Larry Kirk (Director) and William Calhoun Partee (Director) collectively bought $374,275 worth of stock in August |
-17.05% |
|
Corinthian Colleges |
Jack Massimino (Executive Chairman) and Robert Lee (Director) collectively bought $120,780 worth of stock in August |
-21.51% |
|
FTI Consulting |
Insiders like George Stamas (Director), Gerard Holthaus (Director), and James Crownover (Director) collectively bought $287,735 worth of stock between July 20 and August 6 |
-18.71% |
|
H&R Block |
Insiders like Allan Bennett (President and CEO) and Christianna Wood (Director) collectively bought $108,182 worth of stock between July 21 and September 13 |
-16.40% |
|
Select Comfort |
Jean-Michel Valette (Director) bought $130,000 worth of stock on August 27 |
-16.27% |
|
Strayer Education |
Todd Milano (Director) bought $241,421 worth of stock between Aug 18-19 |
-13.42% |
|
TFS Financial |
Martin Cohen (Director) bought $98,000 worth of stock on August 9 |
-27.25% |
Interactive Chart: Press Play to see how analyst ratings for these stocks have changed over the last two years.
Kapitall's Eben Esterhuizen and Alicia Sellitti don't own shares of any companies mentioned.
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