WIA Gold Limited (ASX:WIA) insiders who purchased shares in the last 12 months were richly rewarded last week. The stock climbed by 12% resulting in a AU$17m addition to the company’s market value. As a result, their original purchase of AU$121.8k worth of stock is now worth AU$274.1k.
While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.
View our latest analysis for WIA Gold
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Non-Executive Director Mark Arnesen for AU$100k worth of shares, at about AU$0.08 per share. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of AU$0.14. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.
Mark Arnesen purchased 1.89m shares over the year. The average price per share was AU$0.064. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
WIA Gold is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of under-the-radar companies with insider buying.
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. Insiders own 12% of WIA Gold shares, worth about AU$19m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.
It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded WIA Gold shares in the last quarter. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. Insiders do have a stake in WIA Gold and their transactions don't cause us concern. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing WIA Gold. When we did our research, we found 2 warning signs for WIA Gold (1 is significant!) that we believe deserve your full attention.
Of course WIA Gold may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.
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.