Insider Spends AU$156k Buying More Shares In Smart Parking

Even if it's not a huge purchase, we think it was good to see that Paul Gillespie, the MD, Company Secretary & Executive Director of Smart Parking Limited (ASX:SPZ) recently shelled out AU$156k to buy stock, at AU$0.88 per share. However, it only increased their shares held by 3.6%, and it wasn't a huge purchase by absolute value, either.

Check out our latest analysis for Smart Parking

Smart Parking Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent purchase by MD, Company Secretary & Executive Director Paul Gillespie was not the only time they traded Smart Parking shares this year. They previously made a sale of -AU$678k worth of shares at a price of AU$0.44 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of AU$0.92. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. It is worth noting that this sale was only 26% of Paul Gillespie's holding.

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!

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Insider Ownership

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. Insiders own 3.6% of Smart Parking shares, worth about AU$11m, according to our data. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. Whilst better than nothing, we're not overly impressed by these holdings.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Smart Parking Tell Us?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchase. But we can't say the same for the transactions over the last 12 months. While recent transactions indicate confidence in Smart Parking, insiders don't own enough of the company to overcome our cautiousness about the longer term transactions. Overall they seem reasonably aligned. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. To assist with this, we've discovered 1 warning sign that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Smart Parking.

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.