Read This Before Buying B2Gold Corp. (TSE:BTO) Shares

We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So before you buy or sell B2Gold Corp. (TSE:BTO), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.

What Is Insider Selling?

It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required.

We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. For example, a Columbia University study found that 'insiders are more likely to engage in open market purchases of their own company’s stock when the firm is about to reveal new agreements with customers and suppliers'.

See our latest analysis for B2Gold

B2Gold Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the President, Clive Johnson, sold CA$5.2m worth of shares at a price of CA$3.75 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of CA$4.97. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower 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. It is worth noting that this sale was only 22% of Clive Johnson's holding.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid CA$84k for 22.81k shares. But insiders sold 6089426 shares worth CA$25m. All up, insiders sold more shares in B2Gold than they bought, over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

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

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It appears that B2Gold insiders own 1.8% of the company, worth about CA$90m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Do The B2Gold Insider Transactions Indicate?

The fact that there have been no B2Gold insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by B2Gold insiders. But we do like the fact that insiders own a fair chunk of the company. Therefore, you should should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for B2Gold.

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, but not derivative transactions.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.