Metlen Energy & Metals Insiders Placed Bullish Bets Worth €2.05m

Quite a few insiders have dramatically grown their holdings in Metlen Energy & Metals S.A. (ATH:MYTIL) over the past 12 months. An insider's optimism about the company's prospects is a positive sign.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

See our latest analysis for Metlen Energy & Metals

Metlen Energy & Metals Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by CEO, MD & Chairman Evangelos Mytilineos for €858k worth of shares, at about €34.32 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price, which is €37.60. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. While we always like to see insider buying, it's less meaningful if the purchases were made at much lower prices, as the opportunity they saw may have passed. Happily, the Metlen Energy & Metals insiders decided to buy shares at close to current prices.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid €2.1m for 59.76k shares. On the other hand they divested 8.69k shares, for €335k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Metlen Energy & Metals insiders. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

Metlen Energy & Metals is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of under-the-radar companies with insider buying.

Insider Ownership

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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 0.4% of Metlen Energy & Metals shares, worth about €22m. 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 Metlen Energy & Metals Insiders?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Metlen Energy & Metals shares in the last quarter. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Overall we don't see anything to make us think Metlen Energy & Metals insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Metlen Energy & Metals (including 1 which is concerning).

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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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