Hancock & Gore Ltd (ASX:HNG) shareholders (or potential shareholders) will be happy to see that the Executive Chairman of the Board, Alexander Beard, recently bought a whopping AU$1.5m worth of stock, at a price of AU$0.30. Aside from being a solid chunk in its own right, the deft move also saw their holding increase by some 16%.
View our latest analysis for Hancock & Gore
The insider, Peter Miller, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for AU$7.5m worth of shares at a price of AU$0.34 each. So what is clear is that an insider saw fit to sell at around the current price of AU$0.32. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. Given that the sale took place at around current prices, it makes us a little cautious but is hardly a major concern.
In the last twelve months insiders purchased 6.10m shares for AU$1.8m. On the other hand they divested 33.62m shares, for AU$11m. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Hancock & Gore shares, than buying. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).
Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that Hancock & Gore insiders own 32% of the company, worth about AU$38m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.
It is good to see recent purchasing. However, the longer term transactions are not so encouraging. While recent transactions indicate confidence in Hancock & Gore, insiders don't own enough of the company to overcome our cautiousness about the longer term transactions. Overall they seem reasonably aligned. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. To help with this, we've discovered 5 warning signs (1 is potentially serious!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in Hancock & Gore.
If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.
For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.