Maura Shaughnessy, a director at The AES Corp (AES) recently picked up 30,000 more shares. The buy increased her stake by nearly 70 percent, and came to a total cost of just under $714,000.
This marks the first insider buy at the company since June 2020, and a buy as shares have pulled back from recent highs. Three company employees sold shares back in August, with the total size of those sales far exceeding this insider buy.
Overall, insiders own a scant 0.3 percent of company shares.
Shares of the utility company have performed just slightly under the S&P 500 over the past year, and the firm is currently just shy of profitability.
Action to take: Investors may like shares given the relatively low volatility of utility stocks. The stock trades at 14 times forward earnings, a decent valuation for a utility firm that also offers some upside in today’s markets. At current prices, shares yield 2.5 percent, and the dividend has just barely grown over the past year.
Traders may like to buy call options on the utility, but only following a steep pullback. The January $25 calls, last going for about $0.95, can likely be bought on a dip in shares and flipped for mid double-digit profits. Just as utility stocks are slow-moving, don’t expect massive returns on options. Instead, look for opportunities to buy on a dip and flip for a quick and modest profit on a rip.
Disclosure: The author of this article has no position in the company mentioned here, but may trade after the next 72 hours. The author receives no compensation from any of the companies mentioned in this article.