Executives aren t showing much appetite for shares of the companies they manage, broadly speaking. Insiders, as they re called, spent $2 billion on stock in the two months leading up to March 8, down 13% from a year earlier and down 75% from two years earlier, according to TrimTabs, a research firm. However, small-company bosses seem more bullish than most. Insider buying among Russell 2000 index members, which have a median stock market value of just $400 million, recently jumped 35% to the highest level in a year, according to data from InsiderScore.com.

What does all this mean? For small companies in general, probably nothing. They re priced about right, relative to large companies at the moment, which is to say, they have slightly higher price/earnings ratios (to account for their faster average earnings growth), and slightly smaller dividend yields (because small companies tend to spend more of their earnings on expansion). Of course, specific companies that are the target of heavy, recent buying by insiders are worth a look by outsiders. Insiders have a closer view of company operations than the rest of us, and so they tend to be savvy buyers of their stock, especially because they must spend out-of-pocket for their purchases. (The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 outlawed the practice of insiders using personal loans from their companies to buy stock.)

Below are three companies with stock market values of less than $1 billion whose executives have made meaningful stock purchases within the past month.

Furniture Brands

Market Value: $305 million

Furniture Brands makes and sells, well, furniture. Its brands include Broyhill, Drexel Heritage and Lane. Business stinks; the company hasn t turned a yearly profit since the housing bubble peaked in 2006, and sales have been cut nearly in half since then. In 1991, back when Furniture Brands was called Interco, it went bankrupt and shareholders were wiped out. Today, the company is in better financial shape. It reduced leverage last year and, for now, seems liquid enough to ride out a downturn. The stock trades at close to the company s book value of assets, and at about one-quarter of yearly sales cheap. Analysts say the company is nearing the end of an effort to liquidate excess stock. Several officers have been loading up on shares at prices ranging from more than $11 two years ago to $1 and change at this time last year. Shares now sell for just over $6.

TriMas

Market Value: $241 million

Headquartered a half-hour drive north of Detroit, TriMas makes automotive towing products, which account for about 42% of sales. These include a broad assortment of components and doo-dads for energy, aerospace and other companies (42%); and packaging, from drums for chemicals to pump bottles for lotions (16%). Last year sales dropped more than 20%, but profits from continuing operations turned positive after a loss in 2008. A new management team says it s focused on reducing costs. TriMas generated $115 million in free cash last year, earning applause from at least one analyst. Based on our study of industrial companies, we believe that free cash flow generation is a first sign of operational improvement, wrote Barrington Research analyst Walter Liptak in a March 9 note to clients. Officers, directors and a private investment group have been piling into the stock for more than a year.

Interline Brands

Market Value: $616 million

Interline Brands is a distributor and direct seller of electrical, plumbing, hardware, security and air conditioning products. The company deals with 900 suppliers and more than 160,000 customers, including builders, real estate investors, building maintenance companies and hardware stores. Sales have fallen in recent years, but the rate of decline has slowed, and the company remains profitable. Its shares look overpriced relative to last year s profit, reasonably priced relative to this year s earnings forecast and cheap compared with peak 2007 profits. The company s chief financial officer seems optimistic. At the end of February, he spent just over $170,000 on stock.

Correction: The original column misstated the time period during which corporate insiders spent a reported $2 billion on stock. It was the two months ended March 8.