Insiders of Gannett Getting Good Value On Their US$753.8k Investment

Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI) insiders who bought shares over the past year were rewarded handsomely last week. The stock rose 12%, resulting in a US$39m rise in the company's market capitalisation, translating to a gain of 17% on their initial investment. As a result, their original purchase of US$753.8k worth of stock is now worth US$884.0k.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

View our latest analysis for Gannett

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Gannett

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Independent Director Laurence Tarica bought US$370k worth of shares at a price of US$1.85 per share. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of US$2.60. Because the shares were purchased at a lower price, this particular buy doesn't tell us much about how insiders feel about the current share price.

Gannett insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. The average buy price was around US$2.22. To my mind it is good that insiders have invested their own money in the company. However, we do note that they were buying at significantly lower prices than today's share price. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. 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.

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. Insiders own 9.8% of Gannett shares, worth about US$36m. 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 Gannett Tell Us?

The fact that there have been no Gannett insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. Insiders do have a stake in Gannett and their transactions don't cause us concern. Therefore, you should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Gannett.

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 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.