Insider Spends CA$1.4m Buying More Shares In ATCO

ATCO Ltd. (TSE:ACO.X) shareholders (or potential shareholders) will be happy to see that the Chair & CEO, Nancy Southern, recently bought a whopping CA$1.4m worth of stock, at a price of CA$46.21. There's no denying a buy of that magnitude suggests conviction in a brighter future, although we do note that proportionally it only increased their holding by 4.6%.

View our latest analysis for ATCO

ATCO Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent purchase by Nancy Southern was the biggest purchase of ATCO shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price, which is CA$48.18. Of course they may have changed their mind. But this suggests they are optimistic. While we always like to see insider buying, it's less meaningful if the purchases were made at much lower prices, as the opportunity they saw may have passed. In this case we're pleased to report that the insider purchases were made at close to current prices.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid CA$15m for 349.90k shares. But insiders sold 909.00 shares worth CA$39k. In total, ATCO insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

ATCO is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find small cap companies at attractive valuations, this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 1.1% of ATCO shares, worth about CA$57m. 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 Does This Data Suggest About ATCO Insiders?

It is good to see recent purchasing. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of ATCO we think they are probably pretty confident of a bright future. 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. At Simply Wall St, we found 2 warning signs for ATCO that deserve your attention before buying any shares.

But note: ATCO may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE 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.