MS INTERNATIONAL Insider Confidence Rewarded, Stock Hits UK£115m Market Cap

MS INTERNATIONAL plc (LON:MSI) insiders who bought shares over the past year were rewarded handsomely last week. The stock rose 15%, resulting in a UK£15m rise in the company's market capitalisation. As a result, the stock they originally bought for UK£219k is now worth UK£318k.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

See our latest analysis for MS INTERNATIONAL

MS INTERNATIONAL Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Group Finance Director & Executive Director Michael O'Connell for UK£165k worth of shares, at about UK£5.90 per share. We do like to see buying, but this purchase was made at well below the current price of UK£7.15. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 44.50k shares for UK£219k. On the other hand they divested 28.00k shares, for UK£165k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by MS INTERNATIONAL insiders. The average buy price was around UK£4.92. It is certainly positive to see that insiders have invested their own money in the company. But we must note that the investments were made at well below today's share price. 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!

MS INTERNATIONAL is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

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. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. MS INTERNATIONAL insiders own about UK£47m worth of shares (which is 41% of the company). Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At MS INTERNATIONAL Tell Us?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded MS INTERNATIONAL shares in the last quarter. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. Judging from their transactions, and high insider ownership, MS INTERNATIONAL insiders feel good about the company's future. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. When we did our research, we found 2 warning signs for MS INTERNATIONAL (1 is a bit unpleasant!) that we believe deserve your full attention.

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, but not derivative transactions.

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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.