Douglas Pertz, a director at Vestis Corporation (VSTS), recently bought 10,370 shares. The buy increased his stake by 78 percent, and came to a total cost of $200,627.
This marks first insider activity at the uniform rental and purchasing company since it went public in October, as part of a spinoff from Aramark (ARMK), as company directors and executives have refrained from making any changes in their holdings so close to the spinoff.
Overall, Vestis insiders own 0.3 percent of shares.
Shares are up about 18 percent since their spinoff. Earnings have shown a 305 percent jump over the past 12 months, and revenues are up about 5 percent.
Expectations are for the company to continue growing at a mid-single-digit level on average. That makes shares a reasonable value at 12 times forward earnings. That’s a substantial discount to the stock market’s valuation over 20 times earnings right now.
Action to take: Investors may like shares here, or after any drop lower. Vestis also pays a 0.7 percent dividend yield. It’s too soon to determine how the company’s dividend growth will play out.
For traders, shares are trending higher. The May 2024 $20.00 calls are about $0.50 in-the-money, and trade for about $2.50. On a further move higher in shares, the options could deliver mid-double-digit returns in the months ahead.
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.