The Non-Executive Director of Hargreaves Services Plc (LON:HSP), Christopher Jones, Just Bought 63% More Shares

Whilst it may not be a huge deal, we thought it was good to see that the Hargreaves Services Plc (LON:HSP) Non-Executive Director, Christopher Jones, recently bought UK£65k worth of stock, for UK£2.70 per share. While that isn't the hugest buy, it actually boosted their shareholding by 63%, which is good to see.

View our latest analysis for Hargreaves Services

Hargreaves Services Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Independent Non-Executive Chairman Roger McDowell made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for UK£110k worth of shares at a price of UK£2.19 each. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at around the current price of UK£2.62. That means they have been optimistic about the company in the past, though they may have changed their mind. 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. The good news for Hargreaves Services share holders is that insiders were buying at near the current price.

Hargreaves Services insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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 Hargreaves Services

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Insiders own 9.6% of Hargreaves Services shares, worth about UK£8.2m. 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 Hargreaves Services Insiders?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchases. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. While the overall levels of insider ownership are below what we'd like to see, the history of transactions imply that Hargreaves Services insiders are reasonably well aligned, and optimistic for the 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. While conducting our analysis, we found that Hargreaves Services has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore these.

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, but not derivative transactions.

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