FuelCell Energy, Windstream And Others Insiders Have Been Buying

With the markets overdue for a correction, and worries about effects the upcoming Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, investors have had to get more selective when it comes to stocks. Insider buying can be an encouraging signal. Conventional wisdom says that insiders and beneficial owners really only buy shares of a company for one reason -- they believe the stock price will rise and they want to profit from it. Recently, the most significant insider buys have been of the likes of FuelCell Energy, Opko Health and Windstream.

Enterprise Products Partners

A director has purchased more than 8,000 shares of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. EPD at prices $29.91 per share. That cost him more than $239,000. This transaction came right around the time Enterprise announced increased capacity of its Aegis pipeline. This Houston-based midstream energy services company has a market capitalization near $58.5 billion and offers a 5 percent dividend yield. The operating margin is greater than the industry average, and the return on equity is more than 15 percent. Shares were changing hands at $29.42 on Monday's close. See also: FuelCell Energy Tumbles Despite Insider Purchases

FuelCell Energy

The chairman ended June with a purchase of 100,000 FuelCell Energy Inc FCEL shares at $1.01 per share. That followed a buy of 140,000 shares in the previous week. The total for both transactions came to more $244,000. His total stake is now more than 1.2 million shares. This Connecticut -based maker of alternative energy products has a market cap near $265 million. The long-term earnings per share (EPS) growth forecast is about 40 percent, but note that the return on equity and operating margin are in the red. Shares ended Monday at $0.91.

Greif

A director recently purchased 10,000 shares of Greif, Inc. GEF at $37.45 apiece, while the share price drooped toward a 52-week low. That cost him more than $374,000, and it followed a smaller purchase by another director earlier in the month. This industrial packaging company has a market cap of around $1.7 billion and a healthy dividend yield near 4.5 percent. Note that the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is greater than the industry average and short interest is more than 7 percent of the float. Shares ended Monday's trading session at $35.51.

International Speedway

Two directors just accumulated a total of more than 17,000 shares of this Daytona Beach-based motorsports company. At an average of about $34.82 per share, that was worth more than $595,000. These buys came in the sell-off in the wake of a disappointing second-quarter results. The market cap of International Speedway Corp ISCA is around $1.6 billion, and the dividend yield is about 0.7 percent. The P/E ratio is less than the industry average. The share price has dropped almost 8 percent in the past week and closed most recently at $34.74.

Opko Health

The chairman continues to buy batches of shares periodically, as he has done for well more than a year. He picked up more than 16,000 Opko Health Inc. OPK shares last week at prices ranging from $15.62 to $16.13. That cost him more than $257,000. Another director also bought 2,000 shares. This Miami-based health care company has a market cap near $7.7 billion. Note that the operating margin and the return on equity are in the red, and short interest is about 20 percent of the float. Shares ended trading on Monday at $16.83, which is up more than 68 percent year to date. See also: Citi Defines Windstream 'Bull Case' After Meeting With Management

Windstream Holdings

One Windstream Holdings, Inc. WIN director and one executive together bought more than 55,000 shares. At prices ranging from $6.38 to $6.60 per share, that came to less than $360.000. The transactions occurred as shares sank to new multiyear lows. This $612 million market cap telecom based in Little Rock, Arkansas, has a dividend yield of about 6.7 percent, but its return on equity is in the red. More than 28 percent of the float is short. Shares reached yet a new multiyear low of $6.03 on Monday, despite a recent upgrade by Morgan Stanley. 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 Benzinga on Twitter.