Artisanal Spirits Independent Non-Executive Chairman of the Board Acquires 7.9% More Stock

Even if it's not a huge purchase, we think it was good to see that Mark Hunter, the Independent Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of The Artisanal Spirits Company plc (LON:ART) recently shelled out UK£46k to buy stock, at UK£0.44 per share. However, it only increased their shares held by 7.9%, and it wasn't a huge purchase by absolute value, either.

Check out our latest analysis for Artisanal Spirits

Artisanal Spirits Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent purchase by Mark Hunter is the biggest insider purchase of Artisanal Spirits shares that we've seen in the last year. That means that even when the share price was higher than UK£0.43 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when insiders have purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price.

While Artisanal Spirits insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn't sell. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership Of Artisanal Spirits

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It appears that Artisanal Spirits insiders own 28% of the company, worth about UK£8.6m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Artisanal Spirits Tell Us?

It is good to see recent purchasing. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. But on the other hand, the company made a loss during the last year, which makes us a little cautious. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of Artisanal Spirits we think they are probably pretty confident of a bright future. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Be aware that Artisanal Spirits is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 2 of those don't sit too well with us...

But note: Artisanal Spirits may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE 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.