Matthew Hirsch, a director at UMH Properties Inc (UMH), recently picked up 3,207 shares. The buy increased his holdings by 8.5 percent, and came to a total price of $49,933.
That’s on top of other buys from company insiders over the past six months. Going back further, track record includes some sales. But overall in the past three years, insider buys have far exceeded sales, including a major spike in insider buying in early 2020.
Overall, company insiders own 7.4 percent of shares.
The manufactured home REIT is down about one-third in the past year. Revenue has been flat, and the company hasn’t been profitable in its most recent quarter. However, the drop in share price has sent the company’s valuation from nearly 7 times its price to book value last year to under 3 times today.
Action to take: Real estate tends to be a steady business, and manufactured housing has benefitted from the overall trends of rising rent prices in the past few years. Today’s buyers can get a 5 percent yield, on the higher end for a residential-themed REIT. And that payout can likely grow in time as rents continue to rise.
For traders, shares are still in a downtrend and haven’t shown a sign of breaking higher yet. The December $15 puts, last going for about $1.05, offer mid-double-digit returns on a continued drop in shares. Traders should look to take quick profits on any large daily drop in shares.
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.