Have Insiders Been Buying Bell Financial Group Limited (ASX:BFG) Shares?

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 shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Bell Financial Group Limited (ASX:BFG).

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.

Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. For example, a Harvard University study found that 'insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year'.

View our latest analysis for Bell Financial Group

Bell Financial Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Executive Chairman & MD Alastair Provan bought AU$255k worth of shares at a price of AU$1.28 per share. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of AU$1.82. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

Alastair Provan purchased 300.00k shares over the year. The average price per share was AU$1.23. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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

Insider Ownership of Bell Financial Group

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Bell Financial Group insiders own about AU$60m worth of shares. That equates to 10% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Bell Financial Group Tell Us?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Bell Financial Group shares in the last quarter. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. Overall we don't see anything to make us think Bell Financial Group insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Bell Financial Group you should know about.

But note: Bell Financial Group 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, but not derivative transactions.

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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. 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.
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