Have Insiders Been Buying Ambac Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AMBC) Shares?

It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. On the other hand, we'd be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Ambac Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AMBC).

Do Insider Transactions Matter?

It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information.

Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. As Peter Lynch said, 'insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise'.

See our latest analysis for Ambac Financial Group

Ambac Financial Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when President Claude LeBlanc bought US$99k worth of shares at a price of US$11.75 per share. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of US$17.90. While it does suggest insiders consider the stock undervalued at lower prices, this transaction doesn't tell us much about what they think of current prices.

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 plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Does Ambac Financial Group Boast High 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 1.0% of Ambac Financial Group shares, worth about US$8.6m, according to our data. Overall, this level of ownership isn't that impressive, but it's certainly better than nothing!

What Might The Insider Transactions At Ambac Financial Group Tell Us?

The fact that there have been no Ambac Financial Group insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. The transactions are fine but it'd be more encouraging if Ambac Financial Group insiders bought more shares in 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. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Ambac Financial Group (including 1 which is a bit concerning).

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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, but not derivative transactions.

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