Grey Egerton-Warburton Bought 10% More Shares In Great Western Exploration

Whilst it may not be a huge deal, we thought it was good to see that the Great Western Exploration Limited (ASX:GTE) Non-Executive Director, Grey Egerton-Warburton, recently bought AU$150k worth of stock, for AU$0.032 per share. That purchase might not be huge but it did increase their holding by 10%.

Check out our latest analysis for Great Western Exploration

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Great Western Exploration

In fact, the recent purchase by Non-Executive Director Grey Egerton-Warburton was not their only acquisition of Great Western Exploration shares this year. They previously made an even bigger purchase of AU$300k worth of shares at a price of AU$0.032 per share. That means that even when the share price was higher than AU$0.026 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock if insiders have bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price.

In the last twelve months Great Western Exploration insiders were buying shares, but not selling. 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!

Great Western Exploration is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find small cap companies at attractive valuations, this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Does Great Western Exploration Boast High 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. It appears that Great Western Exploration insiders own 20% of the company, worth about AU$2.5m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Great Western Exploration Tell Us?

The recent insider purchases are heartening. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. But we don't feel the same about the fact the company is making losses. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest Great Western Exploration insiders are well aligned, and that they may think the share price is too low. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Great Western Exploration. For example, Great Western Exploration has 5 warning signs (and 4 which are significant) we think you should know about.

But note: Great Western Exploration 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 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.