Finding a reliable stock strategy is a key to sanity in this Age of Coronavirus. The pandemic has pushed governments to impost extreme economic shutdown orders, as part of a larger society ‘stay at home’ policy. The result has been a stoppage of business, a decline in earnings, and a sudden sharp turn from steady economic growth to a deep recessionary event, perhaps even a Depression. And so, for investors, a reliable stock strategy is both necessary and hard to find.One strategy is to follow the insiders. Insiders are the corporate officers and board members charged with running and overseeing public companies. Their positions give them access to information that’s not always available to the general public. To keep the playing field honest, Federal regulators require that insiders publish their trades – and that information can be used by the general public for trading purposes.When the insiders make large purchases, laying down large sums for hefty blocs of shares, it can be taken as a clear sign of confidence. So following their purchases is a viable strategy for finding potentially profitable stock plays.TipRanks has the tools to help you do just that. The Insiders’ Hot Stocks page shows which stocks top insiders are most active on, for both purchases and sales. You can sort insider trades by a variety of filters, including trading strategy. We’ve done some of the legwork for you, and pulled up three stocks with recent informative buy-side transactions. Here are the results.Microchip Technology (MCHP)We’ll start in the semiconductor chip industry. Microchip is a major name in the industry, boasting a market cap of $21.5 billion and the sixth largest sales share among its peers. The company’s focus is on microcontroller and microprocessor chips for memory solutions, power managements apps, and wireless connection devices. These are essential components in today’s digital world – Microchip never has a problem finding customers.Two important company officers have bought up large blocs of shares in recent days. First up was Steve Sanghi, CEO and Chairman, who put down $3.1 million to buy 37,000 shares. Also buying shares was Senior VP Richard Simoncic, who bought over 6,000 shares for more than $501K. This is a substantial fraction of his total $4.8 million holding.The calendar Q1 performance shows the company’s quality. MCHP reported strong EPS, of $1.46, beating the forecast by over 6%. Revenues, while missing the estimates, did grow over 3% sequentially, to $1.33 billion. Management attributed the mixed results to the impact of coronavirus on demand – weak demand in the automotive, industrial, and consumer segments meant that those manufacturers in turn had weak demand for Microchip’s products. At the same time, communication and data center demand grew, as a direct result of the move toward remote office work and customer service.Writing on the stock for Piper Sandler, 5-star analyst Harsh Kumar notes that Microchip’s forward guidance was squarely in line with expectations, and that the company is taking a cautious approach to the 2020 sales environment. Kumar writes, “Looking to the mid and long-term, we continue to like Microchip, as it remains one of the best positioned and most profitable semiconductor companies. Even in the current environment, free cash flow and debt pay down were both exceptional.”Kumar places a Buy rating on MCHP shares, and that backs that with a $120 price target suggesting a 36% upside potential for the coming 12 months. (To watch Kumar’s track record, click here)The Strong Buy analyst consensus rating on this stock is based on 16 reviews, including 13 Buys and 3 Holds. Shares are priced at $87.81, while the average target of $102.56 implies a 16% upside potential. (See Microchip stock analysis on TipRanks)Arconic (ARNC)Last on today’s list is Arconic, a name you may not have heard of in its current incarnation. This company is a spin-off from the aluminum giant Alcoa. Arconic became an independent entity, controlling the parent company’s bauxite and aluminum operations, last November. The new company’s focus is lightweight metals engineering and precision manufacturing. Arconic’s products are used in the aerospace, automotive, commercial transport, defense, electronics, and oil and gas fields. Arconic is particularly well-known for turbine blades. ARNC shares started trading this past March. Since it opened trading less than three months ago, ARCN shares are up 46%.In recent days, no fewer than 5 of Arconic’s insiders have bought up blocs of shares. The prices paid ranged from $114,000 to $346,000. The two largest purchases were by directors: William Austen bought 17,620 shares for $202,000, and Frederick Henderson bought 33,200 shares for $346,000. These purchases are a clear indicator for investors that this company’s officers are confident in its future.Also confident is Credit Suisse analyst Curt Woodworth, who writes, “ARNC is a high-quality producer of aluminum alloy rolled products with significant leverage to secular growth in automotive and packaging, and a LT recovery in aerospace. We see 3Q as a major inflection point as Ford and GM truck / SUV production sharply accelerates and OEMs need to restock heat-treat plate, which has limited shelf life.”Woodworth puts a $22 price target on ARNC shares, implying a strong 71% upside as he initiates coverage on this new industrial stock. (To watch Woodworth’s track record, click here)While ARNC has only two recent reviews (it is a new stock, after all), they combine to a Moderate Buy rating. Shares are selling for $12.84, after two months of solid gains, and the average price target of $19.50 suggests the stock has room for a 51% upside this year. (See Arconic stock analysis on TipRanks)Clipper Realty, Inc. (CLPR)Next up is a real estate investment trust (REIT). These companies typically offer investors a solid combination of firm financial and reliable dividends. Clipper Realty owns, manages and operates commercial properties and multi-family residential (that’s apartments) properties, in and around the New York City area.Two insiders have made informative buys here in the past 7 days. The larger purchase was by David Bistricer, a director of the company. He bought up 106,666 shares for $611,000. His Board colleague, Sam Levinson, made a smaller purchase of 14,334 shares, paying over $82,000. CLPR showed $30.9 million in revenue for Q1 2020, up more than 11% from the year before. Net operating income, at $17.1 million, was a company record – but better for investors, was also up 16% year-over-year. The strong income supported a dividend of 9.5 cents per share for the quarter. CLPR’s dividend has been steady for the past three years, and the current payout ratio, of 73%, is a clear attraction for investors interested in an income stock. The yield, at 5.6%, is almost triple the average yield among financial sector peers.The stock has only one recent analyst review, by B. Riley FBR analyst Craig Kucera, but he wears his bullishness on his sleeve. His Buy rating is backed up with a $14 price target – which implies a robust 107% one-year upside potential. (To watch Kucera’s track record, click here)Kucera writes of CLPR, “1Q20 results were ahead of expectations, and April cash rent collections from CLPR's diversified portfolio of residential, office, and retail assets located in the greater NYC metro were at 94%… we believe CLPR's decision to significantly increase its liquidity during a challenging NYC commercial real estate environment related to COVID-19 was prudent.”To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.
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The New York Stock Exchange trading floor reopens on Tuesday with strict new rules. WSJ’s Mark Garrison explains what’s at stake for traders as they return to work at one of the world’s last remaining trading floors during the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: NYSE
May.26 — State Street Global Markets Senior Multi-Asset Strategist Daniel Gerard believes another trade war is increasingly likely due to the rhetoric out of the U.S. in an election year and geopolitical maneuvering of China in the region. He speaks with Haslinda Amin and Tom Mackenzie on “Bloomberg Markets: Asia.”Some travel insurers are refusing to give policyholders their money back despite trips being canceled because of the coronavirus.
SpaceX and NASA are scheduled to launch the first orbital human spaceflight from U.S. soil since the Space Shuttle Program ended in 2011. But as SpaceX dominates the headlines, a large number of small launch startups are poised to fail. Photo: NASA/Tony Gray, Tim Terry & Kevin O’ConnellHBO's new HBO Max streaming service will be rolled out on Wednesday. HBO Max is WarnerMedia’s and its parent AT&T's (T) hedge against consumers cutting the cord to traditional cable and satellite services. It aims to establish a direct relationship with its audience much the way Netflix (NFLX) and Disney+ (DIS) have. AT&T will use its roster of phone, broadband and pay-TV customers to drive subscriptions to the service.Netflix recently reported its largest subscriber surge in years, while Walt Disney Co.’s Disney+ topped 50 million users just months after it launched.Top HBO Max executives contemplated delaying the streaming service’s launch in mid-March, when the virus started forcing most Americans to stay home, according to Robert Greenblatt, chairman of HBO Max parent WarnerMedia Entertainment.However, Greenblatt said, "It quickly dawned on us that people were watching more television and we thought…‘let’s get this thing to the customers.’"HBO’s subscriber numbers have been relatively flat for the past several years at around 33 million, and WarnerMedia is betting that the broader mix of programming available on HBO Max will appeal to people who avoided HBO due to its often dark content.At $15 a month, the service will be costlier than its streaming rivals. Netflix currently costs new subscribers $12.99 a month and Disney+’s is priced at $6.99 a month. WarnerMedia had to offer HBO Max at that price, however, because under existing agreements with cable and satellite operators it isn’t allowed to make the service cheaper than HBO or current streaming service HBO Now.Current subscribers to HBO will have access to HBO Max at no extra charge either through HBO Now or if their pay-TV distributor has cut a deal to offer the new service.AT&T stock is down 18% over the past 3 months, but TipRanks data shows a Moderate Buy consensus around AT&T stock in the last 3 months. An average analyst price target of $33.62, implying 12.5% upside potential in the shares in the coming 12 months. (See AT&T stock analysis on TipRanks).Related News: Uber’s Latest Takeover Offer Said To be Rejected By GrubHub Weight Watchers Fires Thousands Over Zoom Facebook Workplace Hits 5 Million Paid Users As Remote Work Demand Rises More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Australia’s New Century In Talks To Buy Vale’s Nickel, Cobalt Mine * Air Canada’s Proposed Takeover Of Transat Faces EU Anti-Trust Probe * Uber Cuts 600 Jobs In India, Cites Unpredictable Covid-19 Recovery * Latam Airlines Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection In U.S.
President Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden approach Memorial Day differently; Pharmaceutical giant Merck makes deals for vaccines; Wuhan, China, says it has tested more than nine million people in 10 days. WSJ’s Shelby Holliday has the latest on the pandemic. Photos: Evan Vucci and Patrick Semansky/Associated Press