Regular readers may know that I like to keep a close eye on insider buying and selling. This is because insider buying can be a bullish indicator and vice versa for insider selling.
In addition to this, I've been keeping an eye on what substantial shareholders have been doing. Substantial shareholders are shareholders that hold 5% or more of a company's shares. These tend to be large investors, asset managers, and investment funds.
These shareholders are obliged to update the market when they make any changes to their holdings. I feel investors could use these notices to their advantage, as they show where the "smart money" is going.
Three notices that have caught my eye this week are summarised below:
Nick Scali Limited (ASX: NCK)
One of Australia's leading fund managers has been buying more of this furniture retailer's shares recently. According to a notice, Perpetual Limited (ASX: PPT) has lifted its stake in Nick Scali by 11.1% to 9,089,556 shares. This is the equivalent of 11.2% of its total shares outstanding. The Nick Scali share price is up 28% this year, but Perpetual appears to believe there's still a lot of value left in them.
Scentre Group (ASX: SCG)
According to a change of interests of substantial holder notice, one of this shopping centre operator's major shareholders has been topping up their position. The notice reveals that UniSuper has increased its holding in the company by 11.2% to a total of 507,458,956 shares. This represents 9.66% of Scentre's total shares outstanding. The company behind the Westfield shopping centres in the ANZ market has seen its shares trade flat this year. UniSuper appears to see this as a buying opportunity.
Vocus Group Ltd (ASX: VOC)
A change of interests of substantial holder notice reveals that an Australian equities fund manager has topped up its position in this telco company. According to the notice, Greencape Capital has increased its stake by almost 19% to 42,104,971 shares. This equates to 6.78% of Vocus' outstanding shares. Greencape's funds have been lagging the market over the last 12 months, so it will no doubt be hoping Vocus' shares perform better in 2020.
