Are These 3 Companies With Notable Insider Buying Activity Poised for Big Things?

Another company that registered a high volume of insider buying this week is Covanta Holding Corp (NYSE:CVA). President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen J. Jones snapped up 20,000 shares on Tuesday at a weighted average price of $14.80 and currently owns 40,444 shares. The CEO also holds an indirect ownership stake of 90,000 shares through his spouse’s trust fund. Furthermore, Michael J. de Castro, Executive Vice President Supply Chain, purchased 10,000 shares on the same day for exactly $15.00 each, boosting his overall holding to 25,677 shares.

The owner and operator of infrastructure for the conversion of waste to energy has had a rough year in terms of stock performance, with its shares declining by 31% year-to-date. Although the company generates most of its revenue from waste disposal, which does not experience substantial price volatility, the revenue generated from the sale of energy and metals (scrap metal is recovered during the waste to energy process) has been subject to high price volatility in 2015. The market pricing for metals has seen substantial pressure from the falling global demand for commodities, which has in turn affected Covanta’s financial performance. Nevertheless, considering the increased focus towards clean energy, Covanta Holding may be well-positioned to experience high growth in the upcoming years. Martin Whitman’s Third Avenue Management holds a 4.29 million-share position in Covanta Holding Corp (NYSE:CVA) as of the end of the third quarter.

Last but not least, SM Energy Co (NYSE:SM) has seen one of its executives purchase a sizable block of shares this week. David W. Copeland, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary, reported buying 10,000 shares on Tuesday at prices between $22.35 and $23.86 per share. After the recent purchases, the Executive holds 72,279 shares.

The independent energy company that engages in the production of oil, gas, and NGLs has been significantly impacted by the low commodity-price environment. Moreover, the company mainly sells gas at the first-of-the-month price, no matter what the spot price was on the day the gas was produced, which may affect SM’s financial figures if considering the sustained decline in natural gas prices. Most importantly, SM Energy has development in the Eagle Ford shale, Bakken/Three Forks and Permian Basin resource plays, the latter of which is associated with abundant wells and low costs (which may enable the company to endure the current low oil-price environment). SM Energy’s net income for the third quarter fell heavily, to $3.1 million, down from $208.9 million for the same quarter of last year. A total of 22 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were invested in the company at the end of the third quarter, and held 10.50% of the company’s outstanding common stock. Billionaire Paul Singer of Elliott Management cut its exposure to Covanta Holding Corp (NYSE:CVA) by 7% during the July-to-September quarter, to 460,600 shares.

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