Insider Stock Buying Reaches US$1.15m On Bloomin' Brands

Quite a few insiders have dramatically grown their holdings in Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) over the past 12 months. An insider's optimism about the company's prospects is a positive sign.

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.

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Bloomin' Brands Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by CEO & Director Michael Spanos for US$1.0m worth of shares, at about US$8.63 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of US$7.78. It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing shares. It is generally more encouraging if they paid above the current price, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 130.50k shares for US$1.1m. But insiders sold 9.56k shares worth US$79k. In total, Bloomin' Brands insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. 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 Bloomin' Brands

Bloomin' Brands 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.

Insiders At Bloomin' Brands Have Bought Stock Recently

There has been significantly more insider buying, than selling, at Bloomin' Brands, over the last three months. In total, three insiders bought US$1.1m worth of shares in that time. But Executive Vice President Patrick Hafner sold shares worth US$79k. The buying outweighs the selling, which suggests that insiders may believe the company will do well in the future.

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 2.1% of Bloomin' Brands shares, worth about US$14m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Bloomin' Brands Tell Us?

The recent insider purchases are heartening. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. But we don't feel the same about the fact the company is making losses. Insiders likely see value in Bloomin' Brands 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. For example, Bloomin' Brands has 2 warning signs (and 1 which is concerning) we think you should know about.

Of course Bloomin' Brands 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.