Pleasing Signs As A Number Of Insiders Buy Hill & Smith Stock

When a single insider purchases stock, it is typically not a major deal. However, when multiple insiders purchase stock, like in Hill & Smith PLC's (LON:HILS) instance, it's good news for shareholders.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

See our latest analysis for Hill & Smith

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Hill & Smith

Notably, that recent purchase by Rutger Helbing is the biggest insider purchase of Hill & Smith shares that we've seen in the last year. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being UK£19.86). It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock if insiders have bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price.

Hill & Smith 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. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of undervalued small cap companies that insiders are buying.

Hill & Smith Insiders Bought Stock Recently

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider buying at Hill & Smith. We can see that CEO & Member of Executive Board Rutger Helbing paid UK£204k for shares in the company. No-one sold. This makes one think the business has some good points.

Insider Ownership

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. From looking at our data, insiders own UK£2.4m worth of Hill & Smith stock, about 0.1% of the company. We prefer to see high levels of insider ownership.

So What Do The Hill & Smith Insider Transactions Indicate?

It is good to see the recent insider purchase. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. While the overall levels of insider ownership are below what we'd like to see, the history of transactions imply that Hill & Smith insiders are reasonably well aligned, and optimistic for the future. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Hill & Smith. In terms of investment risks, we've identified 1 warning sign with Hill & Smith and understanding it should be part of your investment process.

But note: Hill & Smith 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.