Robert Pease, a director at Phillips 66 (PSX), recently bought 682 shares. The buy increased his holdings by 56 percent, and came to a total cost of $99,968.
This is the first insider buy since last February, when another director bought 10,250 shares, paying just over $1 million. Otherwise, company executives, including the CFO, have been sellers of shares over the past year. Nearly all insider sales have come following the exercise of stock options.
Overall, Phillips 66 insiders own 0.4 percent of shares.
The oil and gas refiner and shipper is up 42 percent over the past year.
That’s out of line with the company’s operational performance, as revenues are down 5 percent and earnings are off 33 percent in the past year. Plus, Phillips 66 has a low 5 percent profit margin.
On the plus side, shares trade at half their price to sales, and shares trade for just 10 times forward earnings.
Action to take: Investors could see solid returns with shares from here, as the energy market has been trending lower over the past year but is showing signs of looking to move higher.
Shares also pay a 3 percent dividend at current prices.
For traders, the uptrend in shares is likely to continue. The May $150 calls, last trading for about $5.20, could see mid-to-high double-digit returns from here.
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 company mentioned in this article.