William Brighton Bought 9.1% More Shares In First Financial

Whilst it may not be a huge deal, we thought it was good to see that the First Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:THFF) Independent Director, William Brighton, recently bought US$98k worth of stock, for US$48.99 per share. However, it only increased their shares held by 9.1%, and it wasn't a huge purchase by absolute value, either.

View our latest analysis for First Financial

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At First Financial

Notably, that recent purchase by William Brighton is the biggest insider purchase of First Financial shares that we've seen in the last year. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price, which is US$49.66. Of course they may have changed their mind. But this suggests they are optimistic. If someone buys shares at well below current prices, it's a good sign on balance, but keep in mind they may no longer see value. The good news for First Financial share holders is that insiders were buying at near the current price.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$352k for 7.45k shares. But they sold 1.10k shares for US$57k. Overall, First Financial insiders were net buyers during the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

First Financial is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find small cap companies at attractive valuations, this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insider Ownership

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. First Financial insiders own about US$31m worth of shares. That equates to 5.2% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About First Financial Insiders?

It is good to see recent purchasing. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. Insiders likely see value in First Financial shares, given these transactions (along with notable insider ownership of the company). 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. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for First Financial and we suggest you have a look.

But note: First Financial 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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