GNC, Southern Copper And Others Insiders Have Been Buying

Annaly Capital Management, GNC Holdings and Southern Copper are among the companies that have seen insider buying recently. 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.

Last week, one director picked up 100,000

shares at $43.33 apiece for a total price of more than $4.3 million. Note that earlier in the month the New York-based insurer reported better-than-expected quarterly results. AmTrust has a market capitalization of more than $3 billion and a dividend yield near 1.9 percent. The return on equity is more than 29 percent, but short interest is almost 29 percent of the total float. Shares have pulled back more than three percent in the past week and ended the week at $43.88.

The CEO bought almost 87,000 shares of

at a price of $11.52, for a total of around $1 million. Note that the chief legal officer bought more than 120,000 shares earlier in the month, in the wake of the most recent quarterly report. The market cap of this New York-based real estate investment trust is around $11 billion and the dividend yield is about 10.7 percent. The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is much less than the industry average. Shares closed Friday at $11.77, which is up around five percent since the beginning of the month.

A director recently scooped up 850,000 shares of

for about $5.83 per share, not long after the company posted a wider-than-expected net loss for the most recent quarter. The transaction was worth more than $4.9 million. The market cap of this oncology-focused biotech is about $1 billion. The long-term earnings per share (EPS) growth forecast is more than 41 percent, but the return on equity is in the red. The share price ended last week at $5.91, about where it began it. The stock has underperformed the broader markets over the past six months.

The new

nonexecutive chairman acquired more than $1 million worth of shares last week. That was 30,000 shares of the stock of this Pittsburgh-based specialty retailer of health and wellness products, at a price of $35.41 apiece. The move boosted shares by almost two bucks. GNC has a market cap of more than $3 billion and a dividend yield near 1.8 percent. Its P/E ratio is less than the industry average. Shares are up more than 12 percent in the past three weeks, from near a 52-week low, and closed Friday at $37.36.

The chairman continues to buy batches of shares periodically, as he has done for more than a year. He picked up 45,000

shares in the past week, for a total price of more than $400,000. His total stake is around 142.6 million shares. This Miami-based health care company has a market cap of more than $3 billion, and short interest is more than 21 percent of its float. Shares are down more than two percent in the past month but still up almost five percent year to date. Over the past six months, the stock has underperformed larger competitors Abbot Labs and Medtronic.

The chairman of the board bought 370,000 shares of

in three batches in the past month. That cumulatively was worth almost $12 million. A stalled mining project in Peru worth $1.4 billion was given the green light during that period. Southern Copper has a market cap of more than $26 billion and a dividend yield near 1.4 percent. Its operating margin is better than the industry average and the return on equity is about 25 percent. But shares have retreated more than three percent in the past month. The stock has underperformed Freeport-McMoRan in the past six months.

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