Favorable turn of events for comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCOR) insiders who've lost US$20k to date on a US$3.0m purchase

Insiders who bought US$3.0m worth of comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCOR) stock in the last year recovered part of their losses as the stock rose by 13% last week. However, total losses seen by insiders are still US$20k but in since the time of purchase.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

However if you'd rather see where the opportunities and risks are within SCOR's industry, you can check out our analysis on the US Media industry.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At comScore

In fact, the recent purchase by Executive Vice Chairman William Livek was not their only acquisition of comScore shares this year. They previously made an even bigger purchase of US$1.2m worth of shares at a price of US$1.93 per share. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of US$2.16. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$3.0m for 1.40m shares. But insiders sold 16.92k shares worth US$28k. In total, comScore insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. They paid about US$2.17 on average. This is nice to see since it implies that insiders might see value around current prices. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

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.

Insiders At comScore Have Bought Stock Recently

Over the last quarter, comScore insiders have spent a meaningful amount on shares. We can see that Executive Vice Chairman William Livek paid US$1.9m for shares in the company. No-one sold. This could be interpreted as suggesting a positive outlook.

Does comScore Boast High Insider Ownership?

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. comScore insiders own about US$10m worth of shares. That equates to 5.1% of the company. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

So What Do The comScore Insider Transactions Indicate?

The recent insider purchase is heartening. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. But on the other hand, the company made a loss during the last year, which makes us a little cautious. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest comScore insiders are well aligned, and that they may think the share price is too low. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for comScore you should know about.

But note: comScore 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, but not derivative transactions.

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