Robert Geddes Is The President of Ensign Energy Services Inc. (TSE:ESI) And They Just Picked Up 9.6% More Shares

Even if it's not a huge purchase, we think it was good to see that Robert Geddes, the President of Ensign Energy Services Inc. (TSE:ESI) recently shelled out CA$55k to buy stock, at CA$0.55 per share. However, it only increased their shares held by 9.6%, and it wasn't a huge purchase by absolute value, either.

View our latest analysis for Ensign Energy Services

Ensign Energy Services Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Chairman of the Board Norman Edwards made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for CA$620k worth of shares at a price of CA$0.31 each. We do like to see buying, but this purchase was made at well below the current price of CA$0.53. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid CA$1.3m for 3.10m shares. But insiders sold 6.82k shares worth CA$16k. In total, Ensign Energy Services insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. Their average price was about CA$0.41. We don't deny that it is nice to see insiders buying stock in the company. However, you should keep in mind that they bought when the share price was meaningfully below today's levels. 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!

Ensign Energy Services is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insider Ownership of Ensign Energy Services

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. Ensign Energy Services insiders own about CA$19m worth of shares. That equates to 21% of the company. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Ensign Energy Services Tell Us?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchase. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. But we don't feel the same about the fact the company is making losses. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of Ensign Energy Services 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. Be aware that Ensign Energy Services is showing 4 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those is a bit unpleasant...

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, 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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