As United Malt Group Limited (ASX:UMG) gains 40%, insiders who bought last year may be wishing they had bet higher

United Malt Group Limited (ASX:UMG) insiders who purchased shares in the last 12 months were richly rewarded last week. The stock climbed by 40% resulting in a AU$383m addition to the company’s market value. Put another way, the original AU$516k acquisition is now worth AU$775k.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

See our latest analysis for United Malt Group

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At United Malt Group

The Independent Non-Executive Chairman of the Board Graham Bradley made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for AU$228k worth of shares at a price of AU$3.04 each. We do like to see buying, but this purchase was made at well below the current price of AU$4.50. Because the shares were purchased at a lower price, this particular buy doesn't tell us much about how insiders feel about the current share price.

United Malt Group insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership Of United Malt Group

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. From our data, it seems that United Malt Group insiders own 0.8% of the company, worth about AU$11m. We do generally prefer see higher levels of insider ownership.

What Might The Insider Transactions At United Malt Group Tell Us?

The fact that there have been no United Malt Group insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. Insiders own shares in United Malt Group and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about the future. Therefore, you should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for United Malt Group.

But note: United Malt 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. 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.