Brian Gragnolati, a director at
Lakeland Bancorp (LBAI), recently picked up 2,000 more shares. The buy increased his stake by nearly 13 percent, and came to a total cost of just over $32,000.
Other company insiders have also been buyers in recent months. The company’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) bought 3,000 shares last week as well, a buy of nearly $50,000. Overall, company insiders have been large and consistent buyers with only some small sellers in the past three years.
Overall, company insiders own over 4.3 percent of shares.
The bank has been a strong performer in the past year, up more than double the return of the S&P 500. Trading just over book value, the bank looks attractive, and a 33 percent profit margin and a PE ratio of 10 times earnings likewise makes for an attractive potential investment here.
The share price peaked in July and pulled back a bit, but has since been trading flat since July.
Action to take: Investors may like shares here, as the bank recently raised its dividend and yields 3.3 percent, a high starting yield right now.
Of the company’s limited options, the January $17.50 calls, last going for a bid/ask spread of about $0.60, look like an attractive way to bet on a move higher in shares in the months to come. However, with shares barely unchanged over the past few months, traders should look to take quick profits on any rally in shares.
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.