Christy DiPietro, a director at First United Corp (FUNC) recently bought 3,000 shares. The buy increased her sake by 136 percent, and came to a total purchase price of just under $55,000.
Company insiders have been repeated buyers throughout the year, albeit in small lots of as few as 11 shares. This is the largest buy year to date following a 2,100 share buy from another director in March. The last insider sale was in December 2020, albeit for a single share.
All told, company insiders own about 5.5 percent of shares. In the past year, the regional bank, based out of Maryland, has performed about in-line with the S&P 500. That’s as earnings have risen by 95 percent and revenues have risen by 31 percent.
Most interestingly, the bank trades at 0.9 times its book value, or about the value of all the loans on its book. Many smaller banks that trade below their book value tend to get bought out by larger banks at a premium.
Action to take: Investors may like shares. The company just increased its dividend, and now yields 3.4 percent. The company’s growth and profit margins point to excellent returns in time.
For traders, there are no options at this time given the bank’s small market cap. But shares have been trading in range, and those who wait to buy under $17 can likely get a small bounce to the $19 range, while also getting dividend payments along the way. That would also leave traders exposed to the possible upside from any potential merger.
Disclosure: The author of this article has no position in the company mentioned here, but may make a trade after the next 72 hours. The author receives no compensation from any of the companies mentioned in this article.