Bullish Standard Bank Group Insiders Loaded Up On R50.5m Of Stock

Quite a few insiders have dramatically grown their holdings in Standard Bank Group Limited (JSE:SBK) over the past 12 months. An insider's optimism about the company's prospects is a positive sign.

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.

See our latest analysis for Standard Bank Group

Standard Bank Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Group CEO & Executive Director Simpiwe Tshabalala for R20m worth of shares, at about R185 per share. We do like to see buying, but this purchase was made at well below the current price of R218. 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.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 272.72k shares worth R51m. But insiders sold 85.26k shares worth R18m. Overall, Standard Bank Group insiders were net buyers during the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

Standard Bank Group is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find small cap companies at attractive valuations, this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Are Standard Bank Group Insiders Buying Or Selling?

Over the last three months, we've seen a bit of insider buying at Standard Bank Group. insider Lwazi Bam shelled out R119k for shares in that time. It's good to see the insider buying, as well as the lack of recent sellers. But in this case the amount purchased means the recent transaction may not be very meaningful on its own.

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. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Standard Bank Group insiders own about R417m worth of shares. That equates to 0.1% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Standard Bank Group Insiders?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchase. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest Standard Bank Group insiders are well aligned, and quite possibly think the share price is too low. Nice! So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. While conducting our analysis, we found that Standard Bank Group has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore it.

But note: Standard Bank Group 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.