Arq CEO, President & Director Acquires 4.9% More Stock

Investors who take an interest in Arq, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQ) should definitely note that the CEO, President & Director, Robert Rasmus, recently paid US$3.79 per share to buy US$190k worth of the stock. Although the purchase only increased their holding by 4.9%, it is still a solid purchase in our view.

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Arq Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Independent Chairman Richard Campbell-Breeden bought US$308k worth of shares at a price of US$4.10 per share. That means that even when the share price was higher than US$3.53 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when insiders have purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$913k for 230.76k shares. But they sold 30.76k shares for US$149k. Overall, Arq insiders were net buyers during 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!

See our latest analysis for Arq

Arq is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of under-the-radar companies with insider buying.

Insider Ownership Of Arq

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 18% of Arq shares, worth about US$28m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Arq Insiders?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchases. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. However, we note that the company didn't make a profit over the last twelve months, which makes us cautious. Insiders likely see value in Arq 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. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Arq (of which 1 is concerning!) you should know about.

Of course Arq 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.