Executives at Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) and its subsidiary Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. have recently engaged in trading shares of the Gabelli Utility Trust (NYSE:GUT), with transactions totaling over $6,000. The trades, which involved both purchases and sales of the utility company's Series C Preferred Shares, were disclosed in a recent filing.
On June 28, 2024, a total of 263 Series C Preferred Shares were purchased at a price of $23.745 per share, amounting to $6,244 in total. On the same day, an identical number of shares were sold at a slightly higher price of $23.775 per share, resulting in a total sale value of $6,252.
These transactions were carried out by executives who are deemed to be indirect, ten percent owners of the Gabelli Utility Trust shares, due to Bank of America's 100% ownership of Merrill Lynch. The executives have disclaimed beneficial ownership of these securities, except to the extent of any pecuniary interest they may hold.
Footnotes in the filing indicate that both Bank of America and Merrill Lynch do not concede their status as greater than 10% beneficial owners and that the reported transactions are subject to disclosure under Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Additionally, they mention that any profit potentially recoverable by the issuer from the reported transactions will be remitted to the issuer, should the reporting persons be deemed greater than 10% beneficial owners and the transactions subject to Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act.
Investors and analysts often scrutinize insider transactions such as these for insights into executive sentiment towards the company's stock. The reported trades by Bank of America and Merrill Lynch executives may thus be of interest to current and potential shareholders of the Gabelli Utility Trust.
InvestingPro Insights
In the context of the recent trades by executives associated with Bank of America and Merrill Lynch in Gabelli Utility Trust (NYSE:GUT) shares, some key financial metrics and InvestingPro Tips provide additional insights. With a market capitalization of $453.35 million, GUT's size is a factor for investors to consider. The company's revenue has seen a growth of 16.93% over the last twelve months as of Q4 2023, indicating a positive trajectory in terms of sales performance. Moreover, GUT offers a substantial dividend yield of 9.98%, which is particularly attractive for income-focused investors. This is supported by the fact that GUT has a track record of maintaining dividend payments for 26 consecutive years, as highlighted by one of the InvestingPro Tips.
However, the company's P/E ratio stands at -31.84, reflecting market skepticism about its earnings potential or possibly a period of investment and growth that has yet to be reflected in profits. This aligns with another InvestingPro Tip, which points out that GUT has not been profitable over the last twelve months. Additionally, the dividend yield and consistent dividend payments could be a signal of the company's commitment to returning value to shareholders despite recent profitability challenges.
For investors seeking a deeper analysis or additional insights, there are more InvestingPro Tips available at InvestingPro. Use the coupon code PRONEWS24 to get up to 10% off a yearly Pro and a yearly or biyearly Pro+ subscription, and discover a total of 6 additional InvestingPro Tips that can further inform your investment decisions regarding Gabelli Utility Trust.
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