The Restaurant Group plc (LON:RTN) insiders are still down UK£74k after purchasing last year, recent gain helped regain some losses

Some of the losses seen by insiders who purchased UK£286k worth of The Restaurant Group plc (LON:RTN) shares over the past year were recovered after the stock increased by 12% over the past week. However, total losses seen by insiders are still UK£74k but in since the time of purchase.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

Our analysis indicates that RTN is potentially overvalued!

Restaurant Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by CEO & Director Andy Hornby for UK£159k worth of shares, at about UK£0.42 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of UK£0.36. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing shares. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when insiders have purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price.

In the last twelve months Restaurant Group insiders were buying shares, but not selling. The average buy price was around UK£0.48. I'd consider this a positive as it suggests insiders see value at around the current price. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

Restaurant Group 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. From what we can see in our data, insiders own only about UK£612k worth of Restaurant Group shares. This level of insider ownership is notably low, and not very encouraging.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Restaurant Group Tell Us?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. While we have no worries about the insider transactions, we'd be more comfortable if they owned more Restaurant Group stock. While we like knowing 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. While conducting our analysis, we found that Restaurant Group has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore this.

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.