Insiders and Shorts Disagree On Fastenal Company (FAST), The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (CAKE), and More

Insiders have been buying stock in $1.7 billion market cap cement company Texas Industries, Inc. (NYSE:TXI). Optimism about the housing market and construction in general has been good for cement stocks, and Texas Industries is up 76% in the last year. However, the sell-side is expecting earnings to be poor over the next couple years with the company barely earning any profits in the fiscal year ending in May 2014. Over 30% of the float is held short as a result. Southeastern Asset Management is a major shareholder, reporting ownership of 8.2 million shares at the end of 2012.

Multiple insiders have been buying shares of telecom company Windstream Corporation (NASDAQ:WIN) with several purchases taking place in late March. See a history of insider purchases at Windstream. 12% of Windstream’s float is held short, which actually reflects an impressive amount of commitment on the part of short sellers given that the dividend yield is over 10% at current prices and recent dividend payments (the stock has fallen 25% in the last year). In terms of earnings the value situation is questionable, though the EV/EBITDA multiple is a more reasonable 6.1x so the valuation is a bit more understandable in terms of cash flow.

At the end of January two of NewMarket Corporation (NYSE:NEU)’s Board members bought shares of the petroleum additives company. At a market capitalization of $3.7 billion, NewMarket carries trailing and forward P/Es of 15 and 14, respectively, placing it at least close to value territory. In its most recent quarterly report net income rose strongly compared to the fourth quarter of 2011, though revenue growth was more modest. 13% of the float is held short. D.E. Shaw, a large hedge fund managed by billionaire David Shaw, disclosed ownership of about 210,000 shares (check out more stocks D.E. Shaw owns).

Disclosure: I own no shares of any stocks mentioned in this article.