These 3 Battered Stocks Witness Heavy Insider Buying

Polaris Industries Inc. (NYSE:PII) had not witnessed any insider buying since early 2009 until last week, which should definitely attract some attention from investors. Director Lawrence D. Kingsley purchased a 6,925-share stake on Friday at a weighted average price of $72. However, it should be noted that the American manufacturer of snowmobiles, ATV, and neighborhood electric vehicles appointed Lawrence Kingsley to its Board of Directors on January 28, so his recent purchase might not necessarily point to his confidence in the company’s near-term performance, but rather as a sign of solidarity with the board and shareholders.

The off-road vehicle maker recently released its fourth-quarter earnings report, which revealed that it registered a quarterly profit decline for the first time in the past five years or so. Polaris Industries reported net income of $455.4 million for 2015, compared to $454.0 million reported for 2014. The company generated sales of $4.72 billion in 2015, up from $4.48 billion in 2014. Just recently, RBC Capital Markets reiterated its ‘Outperform’ rating on the stock but lowered its price target on it to $80 from $88, presumably because of the negative quarterly bottom-line growth. The shares of Polaris have lost 48% over the past one-year period, which has pushed the company’s valuation to attractive levels. The stock trades at a forward P/E of 10.51, so investors might find the company quite attractive relative to the broader market. One should also consider the fact that Polaris managed to expand its market share across all of its businesses in 2015, and also managed to generate both bottom- and top-line growth for six straight years. 20 smart money investors had stakes in the company at the end of the September quarter, amassing approximately 5% of its outstanding shares. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Advisors LLC cut its stake in Polaris Industries Inc. (NYSE:PII) by 63% during the July-to-September period to roughly 752,000 shares.

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