Insiders Bought Bank of America, TD Ameritrade, and More

An officer of Toronto-Dominion Bank, who serves as a Board member at TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NYSE:AMTD), purchased 3,500 shares at an average price of $19.08 per share. TD Ameritrade’s revenue and earnings were about flat last quarter versus a year earlier. With earnings multiples in the high teens, the company has to deliver better earnings growth in order to justify its valuation. SAC Capital Advisors, which is managed by billionaire Steve Cohen, added shares during the third quarter of 2012 and closed September with 3.7 million shares in its portfolio (see more of Cohen’s stock picks).

IHS Inc. (NYSE:IHS), a $6.8 billion market cap information and analysis company, recorded an insider buy on January 22^nd at $99.26 per share. IHS reported double-digit growth rates of both sales and net income in its most recent fiscal quarter (which ended in November) compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year. While it is good to see strong growth, quite a bit of improvement is already priced in to the stock given the trailing earnings multiple of 44. Investors interested in this type of business should consider peers such as Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE:DNB) or Moody’s (NYSE:MCO).

A business related to Christopher Cline bought about $15 million in stock from Natural Resource Partners LP (NYSE:NRP); Cline is a Board member at the company and so this transaction had to be reported as an insider purchase. Natural Resource Partners is a lessor of coal mines in the U.S.; while the coal business has suffered over the past couple years due to low demand, investors such as George Soros and T. Boone Pickens have been buying shares in coal companies recently. Natural Resource Partners stands out for a dividend yield close to 10%, so income investors may want to consider it (though they should keep the macro factor of coal in mind).

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