Martin Birmingham, President and CEO at
Financial Institutions Inc (FISI) recently picked up 1,000 additional shares. The buy increased his holdings by just under 1 percent, and came to a total purchase price of just under $31,000.
That follows on a buy for 637 shares made two days before by the company CFO. That came to a total purchase price of just under $20,000. Company insiders have been steady buyers in small amounts over the past three years, with no insider sales.
Overall, insiders own about 2 percent of company shares. Financial Institutions is a regional bank in the upstate New York area with 47 locations. Shares are up 80 percent over the past year, but have room to run, given that the bank trades at its book value, at 8 times earnings, and sports a fat 35 percent profit margin.
Action to take: Shares pay a 3.5 percent dividend right now, which was slightly grown over the past year. Investors are being well paid to wait, and can likely expect further dividend hikes in the future, with an eye towards further capital gains.
The company’s share appreciation has slowed in recent months, but will likely trend higher thanks to strong earnings. Traders may like the December $30 calls, which last had a bid/ask spread of around $2.10, and are about $0.90 in-the-money at present. They can likely deliver mid-to-high double-digit gains.
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.