Lead Independent Director of Vestis Douglas Pertz Buys 35% More Shares

Investors who take an interest in Vestis Corporation (NYSE:VSTS) should definitely note that the Lead Independent Director, Douglas Pertz, recently paid US$6.17 per share to buy US$432k worth of the stock. That's a very decent purchase to our minds and it grew their holding by a solid 35%.

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Vestis Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent purchase by Lead Independent Director Douglas Pertz was not their only acquisition of Vestis shares this year. They previously made an even bigger purchase of US$914k worth of shares at a price of US$11.99 per share. That means that even when the share price was higher than US$6.29 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. 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. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock if insiders have bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price.

Vestis insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. The average buy price was around US$9.25. I'd consider this a positive as it suggests insiders see value at around the current price. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

View our latest analysis for Vestis

Vestis 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

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Based on our data, Vestis insiders have about 0.5% of the stock, worth approximately US$4.5m. I generally like to see higher levels of ownership.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Vestis Insiders?

It is good to see recent purchasing. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. But we don't feel the same about the fact the company is making losses. On this analysis the only slight negative we see is the fairly low (overall) insider ownership; their transactions suggest that they are quite positive on Vestis stock. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Vestis. For example, Vestis has 2 warning signs (and 1 which is a bit concerning) we think you should know about.

Of course Vestis 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.