Bullish CAE Insiders Loaded Up On CA$2.94m Of Stock

Over the last year, a good number of insiders have significantly increased their holdings in CAE Inc. (TSE:CAE). This is encouraging because it indicates that insiders are more optimistic about the company's prospects.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

Check out our latest analysis for CAE

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At CAE

The President Marc Parent made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for CA$862k worth of shares at a price of CA$25.36 each. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of CA$35.19. 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.

CAE 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. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

CAE is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of under-the-radar companies with insider buying.

CAE Insiders Bought Stock Recently

It's good to see that CAE insiders have made notable investments in the company's shares. Overall, two insiders shelled out CA$890k for shares in the company -- and none sold. This is a positive in our book as it implies some confidence.

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. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 0.2% of CAE shares, worth about CA$23m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

So What Do The CAE Insider Transactions Indicate?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchases. 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. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of CAE we think they are probably pretty confident of a bright future. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for CAE you should know about.

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.