William Bowers, a director at Exelon Corp (EXC), recently picked up 4,500 shares. The buy increased his stake by 352 percent, and came to a total price of just over $196,000.
This marks the first insider buy at the company since May 2017, nearly five years ago. Company insiders have been regular sellers of shares at small intervals, with the last sale occurring back in January.
Overall, company insiders own 0.2 percent of shares.
The diversified utility play has soared 41 percent in the past year, as its mix of fossil fuels, nuclear, wind, hydroelectric, and solar, have all benefitted from higher energy prices. Revenue rose nearly 19 percent, and earnings grew by 9 percent, a strong showing for a company in a heavily-regulated sector.
Action to take: Investors may like shares here, as they likely offer further upside. Even with the surge in shares, the stock can be had for about 19 times forward earnings. And today’s investors can get a starting yield of about 3.1 percent, although that yield hasn’t always had a history of moving higher.
For traders, the steady uptrend in shares is likely to continue. The October $46 calls are a near-the-money trade, last going for about $1.85. The options can likely leverage a continued move higher in shares into a mid-to-high double-digit return.
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.