Stock markets globally have been volatile in recent months given numerous uncertainties, which include continuing supply chain pressures, escalating prices, rising inflation, regional lockdowns in China, staffing issues, raw material cost increases, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, to name a few.
Unable to decide where to safely park their funds for investments, investors are left in a tizzy.
One way to make smart investments in these uncertain times is to keep a close watch on how the holding positions of insiders are changing on a particular stock.
Insiders truly know what’s going on “inside” the company, and their buys or sells paint a picture of the stock movement in the coming times.
The question is, how can a common investor get access to insider information that is not all that readily available?
Well, TipRanks comes to investors’ rescue with the TipRanks Insiders’ Hot Stocks tool that makes it possible to quickly find and track insiders’ moves.
Let us take a look at two stocks that should ignite investor interest: Shift4 Payments from the fintech sector, and TC Energy from the energy space.
Shift4 Payments (NYSE: FOUR)
Shift4 Payments, Inc. is an American payment processing company that provides integrated payment processing and technology solutions. Its software provides a single integration to an end-to-end payments offering, a powerful gateway, and a robust suite of technology solutions to enhance the value of their software suites and simplify payment acceptance.
It operates through three major segments: gateway processing (13% of revenue), end-to-end (E2E) processing (67% of revenue), and subscription software (19% of net revenue).
Notably, shares of the company, with a current market capitalization of $5.3 billion, have gained 60% over the past month despite reporting mixed Q4 results last month.
On March 1, Shift4 Payments reported mixed Q4 results, missing EPS estimates by ten cents but beating on the revenue front. Adjusted fourth-quarter earnings were $0.08 a share, below analysts’ estimates of 18 cents. Revenue of $399.4 million in the quarter was well ahead of the $382.86 million consensus projections.
Insiders at Shift4 Payments are clearly optimistic about the stock’s near-term prospects, and have bought $11.3 million worth of Shift4 Payments shares in the past three months.
Specifically on the insider front, we note that Chairman and CEO Isaacman Jared is positive on the stock with a recent informative buy.
He spent $1.74 million buying 35,958 shares of FOUR stock at $47.72 to $49.62 price levels, and now holds 334,742 shares worth $21.9 million.
Earlier this week, Susquehanna analyst James Friedman initiated coverage on Shift4 Payments with a Buy rating and a price target of $97 (51.75% upside potential).
Despite faster growth expected in 2022 and expansion into new markets, Friedman believes that Shift4 Payments is trading at a huge discount to its peers.
The Wall Street community is cautiously optimistic about the stock, with a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on seven Buys and three Holds. The average Shift4 Payments price target of $74.50 implies 16.55% upside potential to current levels.
TC Energy (NYSE: TRP)
Based in Canada, TC Energy Corporation is an energy infrastructure company that develops and operates energy infrastructure in Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
TRP operates Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines, U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines, Mexico Natural Gas Pipelines, Liquids Pipelines, and Power and Storage.
Shares of the company, with a current market capitalization of $57.5 billion, have gained 25% over the past year and are trading close to its 5-year highs at $58.77.
In February, TC Energy reported weaker-than-expected Q4 results as it faced C$60 million in charges related to the scrapping of its Keystone XL pipeline.
On the insider front, there has been consistent insider buying activity by the senior officials in the company, especially over the last two weeks.
Last week, two senior officers, Mark Yeomans and CEO Mark Zagorski, made the most recent informative buys. They picked up shares worth C$29,906 and C$72,410, respectively.
Furthermore, Industrial Alliance analyst Matthew Weekes recently upgraded TC Energy to Buy from Hold with a C$74 price target.
Looking at the Wall Street community, the analyst consensus is cautiously optimistic about the stock, with a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on six Buys and five Holds. The average TC Energy price target of $55.99 implies 4.7% downside potential to current levels.
Conceding to the insiders, TipRanks’ Stock Investors tool shows that retail investors currently have a Very Positive stance on TC Energy, with a whopping 14% of investors increasing their exposure to TRP stock over the past 30 days.
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