Seattle Genetics, International Speedway And Others Insiders Have Been Buying

Insiders may sell shares for any number of reasons, but conventional wisdom says that insiders really only buy shares of a company for one reason -- they believe the stock price will rise 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, in this period when many investors are positioning themselves for the next year. Aircastle One director, Marubeni Corp., has been scooping up batches of Aircastle AYR shares since August. That included 120,000 of them this week, for almost $2.2 million. This jet-rental company announced a $400 million note offering last week. The market capitalization is about $1.5 billion and the long-term earnings per share (EPS) growth forecast is more than 29 percent. The dividend yield is about 3.7 percent. Shares have traded mostly between $18 and $19 since the end of October. Over the past six months, the stock has outperformed competitors Air Lease and FLY Leasing. See also: High-Flying, High-Debt Airlines Will Be Forced Back Down to Earth Digital Realty Trust A director and the chief acquisitions officer bought a total of 6,000 shares last week. That was worth more than $267,000. Short interest in real estate investment trust (REIT) Digital Realty Trust DLR jumped almost 12 percent in the most recent reporting period. Its market cap is near $6 billion, and the company has a dividend yield of about 6.6 percent. The long-term EPS growth forecast is about six percent. Shares have retreated less than two percent in the past month. The stock has underperformed the broader markets over the past six months. International Speedway The CEO, the president and a number of group members grabbed small individual batches of International Speedway ISCA shares last week, at a total price of more than $331.000. Note that a similar round of buying, but with larger batches, occurred in early October. The market cap of this Dayton Beach-based motorsports entertainment company is less than $2 billion. Its dividend yield is only about 0.6 percent. Shares have risen more than four percent in the past month. Over the past six months, the stock has underperformed competitor Speedway Motorsports. Mid-America Apartment Communities A director and the general counsel of Mid-America Apartment Communities MAA picked up a combined 11,000 shares of the company's stock recently for more than $665,000. The board of this REIT announced a five percent dividend hike last week. The company has a market cap more than $4 billion and it has a dividend yield of about 4.5 percent. The return on equity is more than 17 percent. Shares are down about six percent since November 1, and the stock has underperformed the S&P 500 over the past six months. See also: Luxury Real Estate Foreclosures Up 61 Percent Seattle Genetics This week, one director bought more than $43 million worth of Seattle Genetics SGEN shares. That was about a million shares. This biotechnology company focused on cancer treatment posted a smaller-than-expected net loss in its most recently reported quarter. Seattle Genetics has a market cap of more than $5 billion, but note that its return on equity and operating margin are both in the red. Still, the share price has climbed almost 20 percent in the past month. Over the past six months, the stock has outperformed competitor ImmunoGen and the broader markets. Western Gas Partners Two directors purchased more than 101,000 Western Gas Partners WES shares for a total price of more than $6.2 million. Both transactions followed the announcement of a secondary offering of 4.5 million common units of this limited partnership. This developer of midstream energy assets in Texas and the Rocky Mountains has a market cap of less than $7 billion, and its dividend yield is about 3.7 percent. The long-term EPS growth forecast is about 55 percent. Over the past six months, the stock has outperformed Enbridge Energy Partners and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners. At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities. Keep up with all the latest breaking news and trading ideas by following us on Twitter.