Bullish Sibanye Stillwater Insiders Loaded Up On R18.1m Of Stock

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

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Check out our latest analysis for Sibanye Stillwater

Sibanye Stillwater Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when CEO & Executive Director Neal Froneman bought R9.9m worth of shares at a price of R36.31 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being R22.87). While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. It is generally more encouraging if they paid above the current price, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid R18m for 499.58k shares. But insiders sold 5.00k shares worth R237k. In total, Sibanye Stillwater insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

Sibanye Stillwater is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insider Ownership Of Sibanye Stillwater

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Insiders own 0.5% of Sibanye Stillwater shares, worth about R314m. 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 Does This Data Suggest About Sibanye Stillwater Insiders?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. It would be great to see more insider buying, but overall it seems like Sibanye Stillwater insiders are reasonably well aligned (owning significant chunk of the company's shares) and optimistic for the future. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. Our analysis shows 3 warning signs for Sibanye Stillwater (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) and we strongly recommend you look at these before investing.

Of course Sibanye Stillwater 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.