Sparebanken Øst Insiders May Regret Not Buying More, Market Cap Hits kr1.6b

Last week, Sparebanken Øst (OB:SPOG) insiders, who had purchased shares in the previous 12 months were rewarded handsomely. The shares increased by 12% last week, resulting in a kr175m increase in the company's market worth, implying a 42% gain on their initial purchase. As a result, the stock they originally bought for kr570.0k is now worth kr809.6k.

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 Sparebanken Øst

Sparebanken Øst Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by insider Vin As for kr570k worth of shares, at about kr57.00 per share. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of kr80.96. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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).

Insider Ownership Of Sparebanken Øst

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. From our data, it seems that Sparebanken Øst insiders own 5.7% of the company, worth about kr93m. However, it's possible that insiders might have an indirect interest through a more complex structure. Overall, this level of ownership isn't that impressive, but it's certainly better than nothing!

So What Does This Data Suggest About Sparebanken Øst 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 Sparebanken Øst 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. For example - Sparebanken Øst has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

Of course Sparebanken Øst may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality 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.