Should You Take Comfort From Insider Transactions At Great Panther Mining Limited (TSE:GPR)?

We've lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So before you buy or sell Great Panther Mining Limited (TSE:GPR), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.

What Is Insider Buying?

It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.

We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. As Peter Lynch said, 'insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise.

View our latest analysis for Great Panther Mining

Great Panther Mining Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

insider James Bannantine made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for CA$350k worth of shares at a price of CA$0.62 each. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price, which is CA$0.69. Of course they may have changed their mind. But this suggests they are optimistic. While we always like to see insider buying, it's less meaningful if the purchases were made at much lower prices, as the opportunity they saw may have passed. The good news for Great Panther Mining share holders is that insiders were buying at near the current price.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid CA$1.1m for 1.34m shares. But insiders sold 163215 shares worth CA$192k. In total, Great Panther Mining insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. Their average price was about CA$0.85. I'd consider this a positive as it suggests insiders see value at around the current price. The chart below shows insider transactions (by 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 always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Does Great Panther Mining Boast High Insider Ownership?

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. From looking at our data, insiders own CA$2.1m worth of Great Panther Mining stock, about 1.0% of the company. I generally like to see higher levels of ownership.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Great Panther Mining Insiders?

The fact that there have been no Great Panther Mining insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. While we have no worries about the insider transactions, we'd be more comfortable if they owned more Great Panther Mining stock. Therefore, you should should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Great Panther Mining.

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.

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