• Sharp Paper Insiders

Lots of insiders are buying. Should we be?

Headquartered in Cleveland, Hyster-Yale Materials Handling (NYSE: HY) isn’t a name that should be instantly recognizable. After all, the company manufactures and sells lift trucks and aftermarket parts – offering things like masts, transmissions and forklift attachments on a global scale. The stock has been a big-time underperformer this year, down 22% over the last 52 weeks – while the S&P 500 has gained 7.4% over the same time frame.

But the story gets more interesting. According to Barron’s insider transaction filings, 37 total insiders just bought more than 28,000 shares in the week of October 8 to October 12. Granted, it’s not a big dollar amount – about $1.8 million of total insider buys. However, the magnitude of buyers is what caught our attention. Every once in a while, if you see 10 or 15 insider buys, you’ll raise an eyebrow. But 37 insiders – all buying – is worthy of immediate attention.

Check the message boards and you’ll see the note from monkeybrain that reads, “For over a month, the entire family has been exercising options… This company is being bought out.” They’re not far off in that assessment. The insider activity indicates that something is happening behind the scenes at Hyster-Yale, and everyone from the CEO to the mailroom intern knows about it – making this an ideal “Sharp Paper Insiders” trade for today.