Should You Take Comfort From Insider Transactions At Trican Well Service Ltd. (TSE:TCW)?

We've lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. On the other hand, we'd be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Trican Well Service Ltd. (TSE:TCW).

What Is Insider Buying?

It's quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.

We don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. As Peter Lynch said, 'insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise.'

View our latest analysis for Trican Well Service

Trican Well Service Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

While there weren't any large insider transactions in the last twelve months, it's still worth looking at the trading.

In the last twelve months insiders paid CA$80k for 38547 shares purchased. Trican Well Service insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. Their average price was about CA$2.08. This is nice to see since it implies that insiders might see value around current prices (around CA$0.94). The chart below shows insider transactions (by 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!

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. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Our data suggests Trican Well Service insiders own 1.1% of the company, worth about CA$3.0m. We prefer to see high levels of insider ownership.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Trican Well Service Insiders?

The fact that there have been no Trican Well Service insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. While we have no worries about the insider transactions, we'd be more comfortable if they owned more Trican Well Service stock. Of course, the future is what matters most. So if you are interested in Trican Well Service, you should check out this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

Of course Trican Well Service may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality 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, but not derivative transactions.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.