What happened
Shares of Designer Brands (DBI 0.68%) soared 10% higher in morning trading Monday before paring back the gains by about half as the noon hour approached.
So what
The executive chairman of the luxury footwear designer and manufacturer, Jay Schottenstein, reported after the market closed Friday that he had acquired some 900,000 shares of company stock at around $14 per share. Joseph Schottenstein, a Designer Brands director, also purchased 273,000 shares at about a similar price.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
Those prices were the lows the stock had hit last week after a long climb up since last October. Designer Brands stock is up over 350% since then, so the purchases of the shares by the directors suggests a certain bullish belief the footwear company can go higher still.
The market may be agreeing with the investing adage that an insider can sell his stock for any number of reasons (or none at all), but there's usually only one reason he buys: He thinks it's going up.
Now that the worst of the pandemic seems to be behind us, social affairs and dressing up could be a thing again, giving the footwear retailer hope it will resume its sales growth trajectory.
