Aaron Ravenscroft, President and CEO of Manitowoc Co (MTW), recently picked up 3,000 shares. The buy increased his holdings by 1.4 percent, and came to a total price of just under $34,000.
The buy comes several days after two directors at the company also picked up shares. Each bought about $25,000 worth of shares at the start of August. That follows up on other buys throughout the year. Over the past three years, company insiders have only bought and never sold shares.
Overall, company insiders own about 2.7 percent of the company.
The farm equipment manufacturing company has seen shares lose nearly 60 percent of their value in the past year. That’s in spite of a 15 percent drop in earnings, even as revenue rose by 7 percent.
Action to take: The steep selloff has sent shares to 18 times earnings, down from 85 just over a year ago. With shares now trading at about 0.6 times their book value, the stock look inexpensive and ready for a move higher. The stock does not pay a dividend right now, so investors won’t get paid to wait.
For traders, the December $12 calls, last going for about $0.85, offer a mid-double-digit return on a rally in shares in the months ahead. As with any option trade right now, look to buy on a down day for shares and use a strong rally day to take some quick profits.
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.