One Ero Copper Insider Has Reduced Their Stake

Looking at Ero Copper Corp.'s (TSE:ERO ) insider transactions over the last year, we can see that insiders were net sellers. That is, there were more number of shares sold by insiders than there were purchased.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

See our latest analysis for Ero Copper

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Ero Copper

The Independent Director, Lyle Braaten, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for CA$375k worth of shares at a price of CA$25.20 each. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of CA$27.76, 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. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. We note that the biggest single sale was only 4.2% of Lyle Braaten's holding. Lyle Braaten was the only individual insider to sell over the last year.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid CA$408k for 24.05k shares. But insiders sold 20.00k shares worth CA$499k. Lyle Braaten divested 20.00k shares over the last 12 months at an average price of US$24.96. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insider Ownership Of Ero Copper

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Ero Copper insiders own about CA$313m worth of shares (which is 11% of the company). This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Ero Copper Insiders?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Ero Copper shares in the last quarter. It's heartening that insiders own plenty of stock, but we'd like to see more insider buying, since the last year of Ero Copper insider transactions don't fill us with confidence. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Ero Copper. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Ero Copper you should be aware of, and 1 of these makes us a bit uncomfortable.

But note: Ero Copper 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.