Albert Behler, President and CEO at Paramount Group (PGRE), recently added 50,000 shares. The buy increased his stake by 38 percent, an came to a total cost just under $288,000.
He was joined by a director who bought 20,000 shares on the same day, paying just over $114,000. These two buys constitute the only insider trades since late 2020. The last insider sale at the company occurred back in 2019.
Overall, insiders at the office REIT own about 15.5 percent of the company.
The stock has been hit about twice as hard as the overall market, with a 32 percent decline in the past year. Concerns over the future of office space have weighed on valuations in the office real estate market.
Paramount is no exception, with a 1 percent rise in revenues in the past year, yet the REIT has operated at a loss. However, with shares trading at about 0.37 times their book value, shares may be oversold relative to the value of the company’s assets.
Action to take: Investors may like shares here. The REIT yields about 5.4 percent, and on improving earnings should be able to maintain that payout in time. Shares look especially attractive given the high insider ownership an insider buying now.
For traders, the April 2023 $7.50 calls, last going for about $0.35, offer mid-double-digit returns on a move higher in shares in the coming months.
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.