Ann Aber, senior vice president and general counsel at
JOANN Inc (JOAN) recently picked up 1,000 shares. The buy increased her holdings by 66 percent, and came to a total price of just over $11,000.
Her buy was made a day after a 9,500 share buy from the company’s SVP and Chief of Merchandise, who paid just over $99,000. The company’s Chief Customer Officer picked up 2,500 shares on the same day, paying just under $26,000.
This marks the first cluster of insider activity since last March, when there were a number of insider buys, although some major owners sold as well. Overall, company insiders own 3.7 percent of shares.
Shares of the company, which own 855 craft retail stores in 49 states, are down 11 percent over the past year. Revenues are down 30 percent, and earnings growth has collapsed. While that appears dire, the company trades at 4 times forward earnings and at 0.2 times its price to sales.
Action to take: The company could move higher from here, provided there’s a rebound in sales and earnings. Insider cluster buys back in March occurred right before shares trended higher for a few months, and that could play out again. Shares also yield 3.9 percent at current prices, so investors could also get paid to wait.
For traders, the November $12.50 calls are inexpensive at about $0.65, but offer high double-digit return potential if shares rebound strongly in the next few 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.