Insider Stock Buying Reaches UK£843.2k On Spectris

It is usually uneventful when a single insider buys stock. However, When quite a few insiders buy shares, as it happened in Spectris plc's (LON:SXS) case, it's fantastic news for shareholders.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

See our latest analysis for Spectris

Spectris Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Independent Non-Executive Chairman Mark Williamson made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for UK£300k worth of shares at a price of UK£24.76 each. Even though the purchase was made at a significantly lower price than the recent price (UK£28.78), we still think insider buying is a positive. While it does suggest insiders consider the stock undervalued at lower prices, this transaction doesn't tell us much about what they think of current prices.

While Spectris insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn't sell. 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!

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. If investing in lesser known companies is your style, you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Spectris Insiders Bought Stock Recently

It's good to see that Spectris insiders have made notable investments in the company's shares. We can see that Independent Non-Executive Director & Workforce Engagement Director Kjersti Wiklund paid UK£49k for shares in the company. No-one sold. That shows some optimism about the company's future.

Insider Ownership Of Spectris

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Our data indicates that Spectris insiders own about UK£4.0m worth of shares (which is 0.1% of the company). We do generally prefer see higher levels of insider ownership.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Spectris Tell Us?

Insider purchases may have been minimal, in the last three months, but there was no selling at all. That said, the purchases were not large. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. We'd like to see bigger individual holdings. However, we don't see anything to make us think Spectris insiders are doubting the company. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Spectris. When we did our research, we found 3 warning signs for Spectris (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) that we believe deserve your full attention.

But note: Spectris 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.