Whole Foods Market, Inc. (WFM): Insider Buy Might Be Early, But Right?

Insiders picked up the pace of buying last week as the number of companies reporting purchases moved north of 200 for the first time in at least a month. Hopefully, the uptick means boardroom confidence for the economy's prospects are on the upswing for the back half of 2014 – fingers crossed for the millions that have given up on finding a job.

While, unfortunately, many good people are losing hope for finding rewarding work, at least one insider at Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM) hasn't given up on the "organic" grocer despite hitting an earnings-driven rough patch.

Whole Foods is a retailer of natural and organic foods. The Company operates in one segment: natural and organic foods supermarkets. As of May 6, 2014, the company operated 374 stores in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

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Director, William Tindell purchased 13,256 shares of WFM at $39.41 for a total investment of $522,418. His buy comes on the heels of the stock getting cracked by investors following disappointing profit news. The stock price tumbled from $47.95 one day and $38.93 the next.

What makes the buy interesting is that the Director's only other open market activity was to sell $387,532 of Whole Foods in August 2013. The sale at $55.68 was a bit early as WFM topped out a little more than two months later. It's been mostly downhill since.

Tindell could be early this time around, too, but his previous history of "getting right" has to encourage Whole Foods bulls. If only others would open checkbook, as well.

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Despite missing the consensus estimate two straight quarters, analysts believe EPS will be up 13% next year on sales growth of 12.70%. Those are solid growth rates and higher than 2014 expectations. The consensus for 2015's top-line is $16.11 billion with a projected $1.74 making it to the bottom line.

The stock will be much higher if Whole Foods trades at its average price-to-sales (P/S) and price-to-earnings (P/) ratios for the last half-decade. Since 2009, investors typically paid 1.12 times sales and 35.42 times earnings.

If WFM trades at its norms based on 2015 consensus sales and EPS outlooks, then shares would price out at $48.58 and $61.63 using the five-year average P/S and P/E ratios, respectively. Tindell might be content with either.

Overall: Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM) offers considerable upside based on its recent P/S and P/E with 2015's projected sales and profits. William Tindell might be early again, but could be looking good in within the next 12-to18 months.