Michael Kennedy, a director at
Old Republic International (ORI), recently bought 1,024 shares. The buy increased his holdings by over 26 percent, and came to a purchase price of just under $27,000.
This is the second insider buy of the month, as another director picked up 250 shares on August 11. Overall, insiders are active as both buyers and sellers, although one director is leading insider buys with regular small purchases.
Overall, company insiders own 7.3 percent of shares.
The insurance company has had a strong return over the past year, with shares up 61 percent. The company also has a profit margin of nearly 18 percent, thanks in part to the strong performance of the insurance company’s investment portfolio.
Action to take: Investors may like shares here. Besides paying a regular dividend of about 3.3 percent at current prices, the company recently authorized a special dividend of $1.50 per share. Buyers will need to own shares by September 15 to qualify.
For traders, shares will likely continue to trend higher, but will drop in early October as the special dividend hits. It may be better to wait until early October before making a trade here. But once the special dividend passes and shares trade ex-dividend, traders should look at calls going out 3-4 months to play the longer-term uptrend in shares.
Disclosure: The author of this article has a position in the company mentioned here, but does not intend to make a trade after the next 72 hours. The author receives no compensation from any of the companies mentioned in this article.