Kevin Stephens, a director at Crown Castle (CCI), just added 2,000 shares. The buy increased his holdings by nearly 19 percent, and came to a total cost of $247,000.
The buy came a few days after another director bought 1,215 shares for an even $150,000. Over the past three years, there’s been a generally equal mix of insider buys and sells, with company directors likely to be buyers and executives likely to be sellers.
Overall, company insiders own 0.4 percent of shares.
Shares of the cell tower real estate investment trust are down 29 percent in the past year. That’s in spite of a 19 percent increase in earnings and an 8 percent increase in revenue. The company also sports a 24 percent profit margin.
Action to take: Investors may like picking up shares here for the long haul. The company just raised its dividend, and shares yield close to 5 percent. Crown Castle has a number of long-term contracts with automatic price increases, so further dividend hikes are likely.
For traders, shares are now at a 5-year low last seen briefly during the covid selloff. It’s likely the stock can partially recover from here in the months ahead. The April 2023 $140 calls, last going for about $6.70, offer investors a mid-double-digit return opportunity on such a rally in the coming months.
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.