Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Insiders Bullish On Commodities : AKS, APC, CHK, D, TIE

Large daily market corrections have made for some perceived buying opportunities for investors. Insiders at several companies in the commodities space have been particularly active in recent trading sessions. Here are five stocks that have experienced significant insider buying activity during this period of extreme market volatility.

Pedal to the Metal
After watching shares of AK Steel Holding (NYSE:AKS) free fall to the tune of 42.2% over the course of the past month, insiders decided enough was enough. On Tuesday of this past week, the CEO and an Executive VP combined to purchase almost $280,000 worth of company stock. The purchases occurred at prices ranging from $7.96 to $8.09 per share.

The stock has been in a downward spiral ever since the company missed analysts' estimates on its Q2 earnings late last month. Despite the "miss," AK Steel managed to report a 12.3% year-over-year improvement in net sales. The company benefited from higher average selling prices, although it expects pricing to experience a slight downtick in Q3.

Another basic materials play that has seen some major insider activity is Titanium Metals (NYSE:TIE). Since the beginning of August, insiders have bought $8.6 million worth of the company's stock. The purchases have occurred at prices ranging from $13.65 to $16.30 per share. TIE shares are down 17% for the past month ago.

Re-Energized
Early last week, the CEO and a director for Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK) combined to buy more than $3 million worth of CHK shares at prices ranging from $27.46 to $29.00 per share. The purchases came even as this stock has been holding strong.

Chesapeake is fresh off a Q2 that topped analysts' expectations and amounted to a 65% top line improvement from the prior year quarter. The company is running on all cylinders as oil production is up 62% from a year ago and a new discovery in the Utica Shale has recently come to light. CHK shares are up 5.1% over the course of the past month.

Two other energy companies that witnessed notable insider purchases were Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE:APC) and Dominion Resources (NYSE:D). A director for Anadarko picked up close to $200,000 worth of shares in a price range of $65.03 to $66.11 per share this past Tuesday. The CEO, CFO and a director for Dominion have collectively bought more than $685,000 worth of common stock this month. APC shares have fallen 5.8% in the last 30 days while D shares have slid 1.3%.

The Bottom Line
It may be some time before the volatility in the commodities space and the markets in general begins to settle down. In the meantime, the topsy-turvy conditions have helped spur insider-buying action. These five stocks have seen some of the most notable action and may be worth a close look for investors looking to establish or add to commodity positions.

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