Wing Tai Properties' Market Cap Drops To HK$3.0b Leaving Insiders With Losses

The recent 12% drop in Wing Tai Properties Limited's (HKG:369) stock could come as a blow to insiders who purchased HK$17.0m worth of stock at an average buy price of HK$3.44 over the past 12 months. Insiders buy with the expectation to see their investments rise in value over a period of time. However, recent losses have rendered their above investment worth HK$10.9m which is not ideal.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

View our latest analysis for Wing Tai Properties

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Wing Tai Properties

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when MD of Group Property Investment & Management Division and Executive Director Wai-Wai Chow bought HK$17m worth of shares at a price of HK$3.44 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of HK$2.20. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock when an insider has bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price. The only individual insider to buy over the last year was Wai-Wai Chow.

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!

Wing Tai Properties 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

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 3.8% of Wing Tai Properties shares, worth about HK$114m. 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 Wing Tai Properties 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. Judging from their transactions, and high insider ownership, Wing Tai Properties insiders feel good about the company's future. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Wing Tai Properties. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for Wing Tai Properties and we suggest you have a look.

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 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.