Month: September 2012

As the saying goes, there are many possible reasons for an insider to sell a stock, but only one reason to buy — they expect to make money. So let’s look at two noteworthy recent insider buys.

A disappointing jobless claims report as well as other signs of weakness in the economy weighed on the markets today. The number of Americans filing first time unemployment benefits was down just 3000 last week to a seasonally adjusted rate of 382,000, according to the Labor Department.

This morning, Lazard increased its EPS estimates on shares of Wyndham (WYN) through 2013 as the company is expected to buy back more stock. In the report, Lazard maintained its buy rating and set a new price target of $63.

In trading on Thursday, railroads shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 3%. Helping drag down the group were shares of Norfolk Southern (NSC), off about 8.6% and shares of CSX (CSX) down about 4.5% on the day.

Bargain hunters are wise to pay careful attention to insider buying, because although there are many various reasons for an insider to sell a stock, presumably the only reason they would use their hard-earned cash to make a purchase, is that they expect to make money. Today we look at two noteworthy recent insider buys.

This morning, UBS downgraded shares of Citigroup from buy to neutral citing valuation. The stock is approaching the firm’s $36 price target leaving less upside for investors at this time.

The Daily Ticker’s Aaron Task and Henry Blodget discuss Groupon Mobile Payments.

It was a choppy day of trading on Wall Street as the markets managed to stay in positive territory with the help of some encouraging housing data. The National Association of Realtors is reporting a better-than-expected home sales report, with a 7.8 increase in sales in August to a annual rate of 4.82 million units, marking the highest level since May 2010.

In trading on Wednesday, general contractors & builders shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 2.8%. Leading the group were shares of Beazer Homes USA (BZH), up about 5% and shares of Ryland Group (RYL) up about 4.8% on the day.

After the bell on Tuesday, Southwest Gas (SWX) declared its quarterly dividend of 29.5 cents per share, maintaining the amount paid to shareholders last quarter. Based on the current stock price, investors can expect a yield of about 2.7% going forward.