Peter Lyle, a director at Healthcare Realty Trust (HR), recently bought 10,000 shares. The buy increased his stake by 40%, and came to a total cost of $172,100.
Other directors have been active buyers this year, including a buy of over 11,000 shares last month from another director, who paid just over $200,000.The last insider sale occurred from a company EVP who sold off 4,100 shares just over a year ago.
Overall, Healthcare Realty insiders own 0.6% of shares.
The medical outpatient property owner and operator is up just 3% over the past year, substantially underperforming the overall stock market.
That’s in-line with the company’s losses over the past year, and the 8% decline in revenues. Healthcare spending may be on the rise, but that doesn’t always translate to profitability, especially with weakness in the commercial real estate sector right now.
Action to take: Shares have been trading in a narrow range over the past few months, and that is likely to continue. Buyers may like shares in the mid-teens.
As a REIT, Healthcare Realty pays most of its earnings as dividends, and currently yields 7.2%.
For traders, the May $20 calls, last trading for about $0.40, have substantial volume behind them, indicating a potential rally in the coming months. Traders could see high double-digit gains if shares break to the higher end of their trading range.
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 company mentioned in this article.