CanAlaska Uranium Insiders May Regret Not Buying More, Market Cap Hits CA$126m

Last week, CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. (CVE:CVV) insiders, who had purchased shares in the previous 12 months were rewarded handsomely. The shares increased by 11% last week, resulting in a CA$13m increase in the company's market worth, implying a 77% gain on their initial purchase. As a result, the stock they originally bought for CA$106.1k is now worth CA$188.0k.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

See our latest analysis for CanAlaska Uranium

CanAlaska Uranium Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent sale by Nathan Bridge was the biggest sale of CanAlaska Uranium shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that an insider was selling shares at below the current price (CA$0.78). As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. We note that the biggest single sale was 64% of Nathan Bridge's holding.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 241.01k shares worth CA$106k. But insiders sold 214.00k shares worth CA$160k. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of CanAlaska Uranium shares, than buying. 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!

I will like CanAlaska Uranium better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Insiders At CanAlaska Uranium Have Sold Stock Recently

Over the last three months, we've seen notably more insider selling, than insider buying, at CanAlaska Uranium. In that time, insiders dumped CA$160k worth of shares. Meanwhile CEO, President & Director Cory Belyk bought CA$3.5k worth. Since the selling really does outweigh the buying, we'd say that these transactions may suggest that some insiders feel the shares are not cheap.

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. Based on our data, CanAlaska Uranium insiders have about 2.5% of the stock, worth approximately CA$3.2m. I generally like to see higher levels of ownership.

What Might The Insider Transactions At CanAlaska Uranium Tell Us?

The insider sales have outweighed the insider buying, at CanAlaska Uranium, in the last three months. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. When you combine this with the relatively low insider ownership, we are very cautious about the stock. So we're not rushing to buy, to say the least. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing CanAlaska Uranium. To that end, you should learn about the 5 warning signs we've spotted with CanAlaska Uranium (including 2 which are potentially serious).

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.