Chief Development Officer of Saturn Oil & Gas Picks Up 17% More Stock

Even if it's not a huge purchase, we think it was good to see that Justin Kaufmann, the Chief Development Officer of Saturn Oil & Gas Inc. (TSE:SOIL) recently shelled out CA$104k to buy stock, at CA$2.09 per share. While we're hesitant to get too excited about a purchase of that size, we do note it increased their holding by a solid 17%.

See our latest analysis for Saturn Oil & Gas

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Saturn Oil & Gas

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when insider Thomas Claugus bought CA$694k worth of shares at a price of CA$2.25 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being CA$2.07). Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing shares. 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. We note that Thomas Claugus was both the biggest buyer and the biggest seller.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid CA$2.5m for 1.18m shares. But insiders sold 14.00k shares worth CA$32k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Saturn Oil & Gas insiders. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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

Does Saturn Oil & Gas Boast High Insider Ownership?

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. From our data, it seems that Saturn Oil & Gas insiders own 2.2% of the company, worth about CA$9.2m. Whilst better than nothing, we're not overly impressed by these holdings.

So What Do The Saturn Oil & Gas Insider Transactions Indicate?

The recent insider purchases are heartening. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. On this analysis the only slight negative we see is the fairly low (overall) insider ownership; their transactions suggest that they are quite positive on Saturn Oil & Gas stock. While it's good to be aware of what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. Be aware that Saturn Oil & Gas is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those makes us a bit uncomfortable...

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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.