Francis Saul, CEO and major holder at Saul Centers Inc (BFS), recently added 750 shares. The buy increased his stake by less than 1 percent, and came to a total cost of $26,384.
The buy came less than two weeks after the CEO bought 10,000 shares, at a cost just under $334,000. And the company President and COO also picked up 3,500 shares at a cost of $115,500 earlier this month.
Overall, company insiders own 46.2 percent of shares.
The mixed-use retail-oriented REIT has lost about 25 percent of its value in the past year.
While valuations have dropped thanks to rising interest rates, Saul Centers managed to make a small gain of about 1 percent in both its revenue and earnings growth. The REIT also sports a profit margin of about 20 percent.
Action to take: With slow growth and a dividend yield now pushing 6.8 percent, the market may be betting on a further drop in shares from here, even with shares in a short-term uptrend. Investors should be patient and look for a better value before getting into a real estate play right now.
For traders, options are limited, with only the June $35 calls actively trading right now. Last going for about $2.25, the at-the-money trade may be worth a buy as a play on the current uptrend. But traders should look for a quick gain, given the longer-term downtrend in shares.
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.