CEOs Snapping Up Shares of Their Own Companies

Since the recent market sell-off, insider buying is higher than ever, especially among CEOs. According to the founder of Insider Trade Reports, Asif Suria, a typical week sees between $20-60 million of insider purchases, but last week saw more than $185 million in purchases from insiders.

Insider Trade Reports claims "over four decades of academic research has shown that by following in the footsteps of company insiders and buying the stocks that they are buying, you can outperform the market by 6% to 10.2% per year."

For a look into companies being bought up by their CEOs, here is a list of CEO insider purchases since the market downturn. Do you think these CEOs are calling it right?

Use this list as a starting-off point for your own analysis. (Click here to access free, interactive tools to analyze these ideas.)

1. Six Flags Entertainment (NYS: SIX) : General Entertainment Industry. Market cap of $3.19B. The company's CEO recently purchased $2,499,189 worth of company stock. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 15.74% (equivalent to 7.78 days of average volume). The stock has gained 104.51% over the last year.

2. Morgan Stanley (NYS: MS) : Investment Brokerage Industry. Market cap of $32.63B. The company's CEO recently purchased $2,062,070 worth of company stock. The stock is currently stuck in a downtrend, trading 14.16% below its SMA20, 17.87% below its SMA50, and 30.25% below its SMA200. It's been a rough couple of days for the stock, losing 15.63% over the last week.

3. Fifth Street Finance (NYS: FSC) : Credit Services Industry. Market cap of $692.68M. The company's CEO recently purchased $2,014,323 worth of company stock. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 9.04% (equivalent to 5.07 days of average volume). The stock has performed poorly over the last month, losing 18.14%.

4. Huntsman (NYS: HUN) : Specialty Chemicals Industry. Market cap of $3.35B. The company's CEO recently purchased $1,137,270 worth of company stock. This is a risky stock that is significantly more volatile than the overall market (beta = 2.13). The stock has had a couple of great days, gaining 9.69% over the last week. The stock has performed poorly over the last month, losing 26.76%.

5. WMS Industries (NYS: WMS) : Recreational Goods Industry. Market cap of $1.26B. The company's CEO recently purchased $1,000,224 worth of company stock. The stock is currently stuck in a downtrend, trading 12.46% below its SMA20, 20.05% below its SMA50, and 39.35% below its SMA200. The stock has had a couple of great days, gaining 20.8% over the last week. The stock has performed poorly over the last month, losing 21.67%.

6. General Growth Properties (NYS: GGP) : REIT Industry. Market cap of $13.0B. The company's CEO recently purchased $856,489 worth of company stock. The stock is currently stuck in a downtrend, trading 7.51% below its SMA20, 9.9% below its SMA50, and 6.1% below its SMA200. The stock has performed poorly over the last month, losing 14.44%.

7. Kinder Morgan (NYS: KMI) : Oil & Gas Pipelines Industry. Market cap of $18.93B. The company's CEO recently purchased $679,621 worth of company stock. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 80.44% (equivalent to 7.37 days of average volume).

8. First Industrial Realty Trust (NYS: FR) : REIT Industry. Market cap of $573.29M. The company's CEO recently purchased $642,000 worth of company stock. This is a risky stock that is significantly more volatile than the overall market (beta = 2.48). The stock is currently stuck in a downtrend, trading 11.41% below its SMA20, 14.26% below its SMA50, and 8.8% below its SMA200. The stock has performed poorly over the last month, losing 22.43%.

9. Winthrop Realty Trust (NYS: FUR) : REIT Industry. Market cap of $300.27M. The company's CEO recently purchased $589,550 worth of company stock. The stock is currently stuck in a downtrend, trading 9.66% below its SMA20, 15.57% below its SMA50, and 19.37% below its SMA200. The stock has performed poorly over the last month, losing 21.13%.

10. Tupperware Brands (NYS: TUP) : Packaging & Containers Industry. Market cap of $3.88B. The company's CEO recently purchased $507,045 worth of company stock. The stock has had a couple of great days, gaining 13.37% over the last week.

11. Life Technologies (NAS: LIFE) : Biotechnology Industry. Market cap of $6.93B. The company's CEO recently purchased $420,000 worth of company stock. The stock is currently stuck in a downtrend, trading 14.01% below its SMA20, 20.83% below its SMA50, and 25.73% below its SMA200. It's been a rough couple of days for the stock, losing 8.33% over the last week.

12. Greenbrier Companies (NYS: GBX) : Railroads Industry. Market cap of $374.88M. The company's CEO recently purchased $268,705 worth of company stock. This is a risky stock that is significantly more volatile than the overall market (beta = 2.97). The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 14.86% (equivalent to 5.45 days of average volume). The stock has performed poorly over the last month, losing 28.26%.

13. Kansas City Southern (NYS: KSU) : Railroads Industry. Market cap of $5.98B. The company's CEO recently purchased $253,050 worth of company stock. The stock has gained 58.16% over the last year.

14. AK Steel Holding (NYS: AKS) : Steel & Iron Industry. Market cap of $989.03M. The company's CEO recently purchased $199,030 worth of company stock. This is a risky stock that is significantly more volatile than the overall market (beta = 2.64). The stock is currently stuck in a downtrend, trading 22.3% below its SMA20, 33.19% below its SMA50, and 37.48% below its SMA200. The stock has performed poorly over the last month, losing 40.6%.

Interactive Chart: Press Play to compare changes in analyst ratings over the last two years for the stocks mentioned above. Analyst ratings sourced from Zacks Investment Research.

Disclosure: Kapitall's Alexander Crawford does not own any of the shares mentioned above. Insider trading data sourced from Insider Trade Reports, all other data sourced from Finviz.

At the time thisarticle was published The Motley Fool owns shares of Tupperware Brands. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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