Bryant Riley, Co-CEO and major holder at B. Riley Financial (RILY), recently added 72,727 shares. The buy increased his stake by 1 percent, and came to a total cost just shy of $4 million.
He was joined by the other CEO, who bought 5,000 shares, at a cost of $275,000. A company director also bought 5,000 shares around the same time. This adds to a number of insider buys over the past year.
Overall, insiders own 49.3 percent of the company.
The financial services firm is starting to trend higher. Shares dove in 2022 as financial services slowed down, including investment services such as mergers and acquisitions. Over the past year, shares are now performing about on par with the rest of the market.
Revenues have rebounded as well, with a 72 percent rise over the past year, although B. Riley still isn’t profitable on an earnings basis. Investors may be discounting the company given the sizeable amount of debt on its balance sheet.
Action to take: Even with the strong rally in shares so far this year, B. Riley shares still offer a 6.8 percent dividend at current prices. That could help boost returns from a continued rally.
For traders, the October $60 calls, last going for about $3.60, could see mid-double-digit returns in the coming months before expiration.
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.