Patrick Donovan, a director at West Bancorp (WTBA), recently added 5,000 shares. The buy increased his stake by over 18 percent, and came to a total price of just under $150,000.
This is the third buy from the director so far this month, with two buys of 2,500 shares each, for a total of 10,000 more shares this month. Insiders have overall been active over the past three years, but buyers have far outpaced sellers.
Company insiders own just over 10 percent of shares.
Shares of the regional bank have already soared 76 percent in the past year, on the back of strong earnings and revenue growth, as well as massive 45 percent profit margins.
Action to take: The bank is a bit expensive in terms of its price to book, but trades at about 12 times forward earnings. Investors may like shares, given that the bank has recently raised its dividend, and yields just over 3.2 percent at current levels.
Traders may like the January $30 calls, which are about an at-the-money trade at current prices. The options have a bid/ask spread of around $2.25. The option has a bit of a wide bid/ask, but given the longer-term uptrend in shares, it can likely still deliver 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 of the companies mentioned in this article.