Director of Genasys Picks Up 250% More Stock

Investors who take an interest in Genasys Inc. (NASDAQ:GNSS) should definitely note that the Director, Mark Culhane, recently paid US$2.66 per share to buy US$133k worth of the stock. That certainly has us anticipating the best, especially since they thusly increased their own holding by 250%, potentially signalling some real optimism.

View our latest analysis for Genasys

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Genasys

Notably, that recent purchase by Mark Culhane is the biggest insider purchase of Genasys shares that we've seen in the last year. That implies that an insider found the current price of US$2.73 per share to be enticing. Of course they may have changed their mind. But this suggests they are optimistic. If someone buys shares at well below current prices, it's a good sign on balance, but keep in mind they may no longer see value. Happily, the Genasys insiders decided to buy shares at close to current prices.

In the last twelve months Genasys insiders were buying shares, but not selling. The average buy price was around US$2.18. We don't deny that it is nice to see insiders buying stock in the company. However, you should keep in mind that they bought when the share price was meaningfully below today's levels. 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 undervalued small cap companies that insiders are buying.

Does Genasys Boast High Insider Ownership?

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Based on our data, Genasys insiders have about 2.5% of the stock, worth approximately US$3.0m. We consider this fairly low insider ownership.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Genasys Tell Us?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchase. 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. We would certainly prefer see higher levels of insider ownership but analysis of the insider transactions suggests that Genasys insiders are expecting a bright future. 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 3 warning signs we've spotted with Genasys (including 1 which is concerning).

But note: Genasys 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 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.