Insider Stock Buying Reaches CA$816.5k On CoTec Holdings

Generally, when a single insider buys stock, it is usually not a big deal. However, when several insiders are buying, like in the case of CoTec Holdings Corp. (CVE:CTH), it sends a favourable message to the company's shareholders.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Check out our latest analysis for CoTec Holdings

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At CoTec Holdings

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the CFO & Corporate Secretary, Abraham Jonker, sold CA$345k worth of shares at a price of CA$0.53 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of CA$0.60, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent valuation. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. It is worth noting that this sale was only 8.8% of Abraham Jonker's holding. Abraham Jonker was the only individual insider to sell shares in the last twelve months. Notably Abraham Jonker was also the biggest buyer, having purchased CA$817k worth of shares.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid CA$817k for 1.25m shares. On the other hand they divested 1.05m shares, for CA$653k. In total, CoTec Holdings insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. The average buy price was around CA$0.65. I'd consider this a positive as it suggests insiders see value at around the current price. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

CoTec Holdings is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

Are CoTec Holdings Insiders Buying Or Selling?

CFO & Corporate Secretary Abraham Jonker bought just CA$3.5k worth of shares in that time. That's not much at all. So it is hard to draw any conclusion about how insiders are feeling about the stock, from these recent trades.

Insider Ownership

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 32% of CoTec Holdings shares, worth about CA$11m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At CoTec Holdings Tell Us?

We note a that there has been a bit of insider buying recently (but no selling). Overall the buying isn't worth writing home about. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. Insiders own shares in CoTec Holdings and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about the future. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. When we did our research, we found 4 warning signs for CoTec Holdings (1 is a bit unpleasant!) that we believe deserve your full attention.

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.