Insider Buys Of The Week: American Homes 4 Rent, Bunge, Platform Specialty Products

• Insider buying can be an encouraging signal for potential investors.
• Some notable insider buys last week came in the wake of quarterly reports.
• A chief executive officer was one of the insider buyers featured here.

Conventional wisdom says that insiders and 10 percent 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. So insider buying can be an encouraging signal for potential investors, particularly during periods of uncertainty.

Here's a look at a few notable insider purchases reported in the past week.

Bunge

Bunge Ltd BG saw CEO Soren Schroder, the chief financial officer and three directors add to their stakes. At prices that ranged from $61.91 to $63.60, the 669,200 shares reportedly acquired in the past week cost them about $42.09 million. Note that Schroder's stake was last seen at less than 82,600 shares.

This agribusiness company is among those that could be affected by the outcome of the midterms. The stock last closed at $63.27, still within the above purchase price range. Shares have traded as high as $83.20 in the past year, but the consensus price target is $78.89.

See Also: Cramer: IBM CEO Rometty Signaled 'Real Commitment' To Stock

American Homes 4 Rent

Two American Homes 4 Rent AMH directors made notable share purchases this past week. At $19.90 to $20.30 apiece, the more than 1.98 million shares acquired totaled nearly $40 million. Note that these directors are family, and some of the shares are held in trust.

This single-family home rental leader posted mixed earnings results and declared a dividend at the beginning of the month. The shares ended Friday at $20.52, or more than 3 percent higher in the past week, which is better than the S&P 500. The consensus price target is $24.77, but shares have traded as high as $23.34 apiece in the past 52 weeks.

Platform Specialty Products

Two directors and an executive vice president at Platform Specialty Products Corp PAH also stepped up to the buy window this past week. Altogether they picked up 717,000 shares at prices ranging from $10.78 to $11.00 apiece. That totaled more than $7.86 million. More than 288 million shares are outstanding.

The specialty chemical products company posted disappointing earnings results but reaffirmed its full-year guidance at the beginning of the month. The stock was trading at $11.07 a share, a bit above the purchase price range. It traded at $13.54 back in August, a 52-week high. Analysts have a consensus price target of $14.25.