Superdry Up 28%, Insiders Still Down After UK£1.01m Purchase

Insiders who bought UK£1.01m worth of Superdry plc (LON:SDRY) stock in the last year recovered part of their losses as the stock rose by 28% last week. However, total losses seen by insiders are still UK£506k since the time of purchase.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

See our latest analysis for Superdry

Superdry Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Co-Founder Julian Dunkerton bought UK£735k worth of shares at a price of UK£0.79 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of UK£0.40. 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. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when an insider has purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price. Julian Dunkerton was the only individual insider to buy shares in the last twelve months.

Julian Dunkerton bought a total of 1.28m shares over the year at an average price of UK£0.79. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

Superdry 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. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Superdry insiders own about UK£12m worth of shares. That equates to 32% of the company. 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 Superdry Insiders?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. Insiders own shares in Superdry and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about the future. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. Case in point: We've spotted 5 warning signs for Superdry you should be aware of, and 1 of them is a bit concerning.

But note: Superdry 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.