Insider Buying: The Safestore Holdings plc (LON:SAFE) CEO & Director Just Bought UK£118k Worth Of Shares

Potential Safestore Holdings plc (LON:SAFE) shareholders may wish to note that the CEO & Director, Frederic Vecchioli, recently bought UK£118k worth of stock, paying UK£10.08 for each share. However, it only increased shareholding by a small percentage, and it wasn't a huge purchase by absolute value, either.

Check out our latest analysis for Safestore Holdings

Safestore Holdings Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent purchase by CEO & Director Frederic Vecchioli was not the only time they traded Safestore Holdings shares this year. They previously made a sale of -UK£8.7m worth of shares at a price of UK£9.26 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of UK£10.74. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. This single sale was just 23% of Frederic Vecchioli's stake.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 138.86k shares worth UK£1.2m. But insiders sold 1.66m shares worth UK£15m. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Safestore Holdings shares, than buying. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Insider Ownership Of Safestore Holdings

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 2.1% of Safestore Holdings shares, worth about UK£48m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Do The Safestore Holdings Insider Transactions Indicate?

The stark truth for Safestore Holdings is that there has been more insider selling than insider buying in the last three months. Despite some insider buying, the longer term picture doesn't make us feel much more positive. On the plus side, Safestore Holdings makes money, and is growing profits. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. 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. For example, Safestore Holdings has 4 warning signs (and 1 which is a bit concerning) we think you should know about.

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.

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.