Artis Real Estate Investment Trust Up 12%, Insiders Still Down After CA$5.86m Purchase

Insiders who bought CA$5.86m worth of Artis Real Estate Investment Trust (TSE:AX.UN) stock in the last year recovered part of their losses as the stock rose by 12% last week. The purchase, however, has proven to be a pricey bet, with losses currently totalling CA$1.2m.

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.

Check out our latest analysis for Artis Real Estate Investment Trust

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Artis Real Estate Investment Trust

The President Samir Manji made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for CA$1.2m worth of shares at a price of CA$8.75 each. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of CA$6.81. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. It is generally more encouraging if they paid above the current price, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels.

In the last twelve months Artis Real Estate Investment Trust insiders were buying shares, but not selling. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership Of Artis Real Estate Investment Trust

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that Artis Real Estate Investment Trust insiders own 3.3% of the company, worth about CA$24m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Do The Artis Real Estate Investment Trust Insider Transactions Indicate?

The fact that there have been no Artis Real Estate Investment Trust insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Insiders own shares in Artis Real Estate Investment Trust and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about the future. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Artis Real Estate Investment Trust. While conducting our analysis, we found that Artis Real Estate Investment Trust has 3 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore them.

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.