Artisanal Spirits Insiders May Regret Not Buying More, Market Cap Hits UK£39m

The Artisanal Spirits Company plc (LON:ART) insiders who bought shares over the past year were rewarded handsomely last week. The stock rose 10.0%, resulting in a UK£3.5m rise in the company's market capitalisation, translating to a gain of 42% on their initial investment. As a result, the stock they originally bought for UK£51.6k is now worth UK£73.4k.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

This technology could replace computers: discover the 20 stocks are working to make quantum computing a reality.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Artisanal Spirits

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Independent Non-Executive Chairman of the Board Mark Hunter bought UK£48k worth of shares at a price of UK£0.39 per share. Even though the purchase was made at a significantly lower price than the recent price (UK£0.55), we still think insider buying is a positive. Because the shares were purchased at a lower price, this particular buy doesn't tell us much about how insiders feel about the current share price.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 133.52k shares worth UK£52k. On the other hand they divested 45.03k shares, for UK£19k. Overall, Artisanal Spirits insiders were net buyers during the last year. 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!

See our latest analysis for Artisanal Spirits

Artisanal Spirits 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.

Have Artisanal Spirits Insiders Traded Recently?

We've only seen a tiny insider purchase valued at UK£1.8k, in the last three months. So it is hard to draw any conclusion about how insiders are feeling about the stock, from these recent trades.

Insider Ownership

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 29% of Artisanal Spirits shares, worth about UK£11m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Artisanal Spirits Tell Us?

Our data shows a little insider buying, but no selling, in the last three months. The net investment is not enough to encourage us much. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Insiders do have a stake in Artisanal Spirits and their transactions don't cause us concern. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. At Simply Wall St, we've found that Artisanal Spirits has 2 warning signs (1 can't be ignored!) that deserve your attention before going any further with your analysis.

Of course Artisanal Spirits may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality 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 of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.