Insider: Big buying at these three heavyweights

Smiths men in £1.4 million buy

Airport x-ray machine-to-mechanical seals conglomerate Smiths Group had its best day in years this week. The shares rocketed 10%, despite supplying parts to the struggling oil industry and a terrible 2015 for the electronics division.

New chief Andy Reynolds Smith has just reported a "resilient" first-quarter and said expectations for the full-year remain broadly unchanged. What got investors really excited, however, was news that the firm is tackling its huge pension deficit.

At the end of March, the pension scheme's deficit was £285 million, about £250 million lower than the previous triennial valuation in 2012. A deal with trustees to slash annual cash contributions to the scheme will free up £36 million a year. Finance chief Chris O'Shea says Smiths will use the extra cash to pump funds back into the business, make acquisitions, and keep growing the dividend.

And top brass are backing themselves to do big things by snapping up over £1.2 million worth of Smiths Group shares.

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Reynolds Smith opened his account by buying 100,000 shares at 992.75p each, while Chris O'Shea also made his first share purchase: he and his wife loaded up on 20,000 shares at 999.24p a throw. Chairman Sir George Buckley also got involved, doubling his stake with the acquisition of 5,000 shares at a sterling equivalent of about 996p.

Not everyone's so bullish, however. Sanjay Jha at Panmure Gordon says 'sell' and is calling the shares down to 850p. The pensions trick means total free cash flow is now more likely to cover an unchanged dividend in 2017 and 2018, but it won’t be enough to do the extra investing that O'Shea claims it will, reckons Jha. Downgraded estimates for the next three years put Smiths on a forward price/earnings (PE) multiple of 14-16 times.

Boom time for BAE Systems?

Someone seems to have lit a rocket under BAE Systems' share price, too. The defence leviathan announced earlier this month a couple of hits to profit this year, but a brighter outlook longer-term triggered a rush back into the shares.

Now, the wife of chairman Roger Carr has spent almost £200,000 on a big stake in the company. Lady Carr's 41,978 shares were acquired for just under 473p each, compared with a low of 438p a week earlier.

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And there's been a clear mood change in the City. We hear the results of the five-year Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) next week, which should provide clarity on the UK’s defence and security priorities. Hope is for visibility on major naval programs including the Trident submarine replacement, while recent terrorist attacks in Paris, Turkey, Egypt and now Mali will sharpen the mind at the MoD.

With the discount to US peers now outside the historical range, BAE's share price is tipped to benefit in the months ahead as that discount narrows. Haitong Securities thinks BAE shares are worth 560p, but Investec has done a sharp about-turn, switching from 'sell' to 'buy' and lifting its price target from 410p to 530p. Lady Carr will hope they're right.

Berendsen's smart new strategy

Berendsen supplies work clothes for staff at big companies like Tesco and fresh linen to hotels. It's done incredibly well over the past few years, although the shares have come off since the Spring, following a poorly-received trading update and news that chief executive Peter Ventress would leave in the summer.

Now, though, a strategic update from new boss James Drummond has injected some life into the share price. A maiden share purchase by Drummond has, too. The former boss of search helicopter firm Avincis and head of the rail division at Invensys before it was sold to Siemens in 2012, has just bought 10,000 Berendsen shares at 1,045p.

Trading on about 16 times forward earnings, the shares aren't obviously cheap, but Investec likes Drummond's strategy and believes there's plenty of opportunity for both organic and acquisitive growth. The shares are worth 1,238p if he gets it right, the broker says.

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This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.