The CEO & Executive Director of Severn Trent Plc (LON:SVT), Olivia Garfield, Just Bought 1.8% More Shares

Investors who take an interest in Severn Trent Plc (LON:SVT) should definitely note that the CEO & Executive Director, Olivia Garfield, recently paid UK£24.00 per share to buy UK£100k worth of the stock. Although the purchase only increased their holding by 1.8%, it is still a solid purchase in our view.

View our latest analysis for Severn Trent

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Severn Trent

Notably, that recent purchase by CEO & Executive Director Olivia Garfield was not the only time they bought Severn Trent shares this year. Earlier in the year, they paid UK£25.42 per share in a UK£320k purchase. That means that even when the share price was higher than UK£25.05 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. 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. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing shares. It is generally more encouraging if they paid above the current price, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels.

Severn Trent insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

insider-trading-volume

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Insider Ownership of Severn Trent

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that Severn Trent insiders own 0.2% of the company, worth about UK£12m. 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 Severn Trent Insiders?

The recent insider purchases are heartening. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of Severn Trent we think they are probably pretty confident of 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 help with this, we've discovered 3 warning signs (1 is a bit unpleasant!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in Severn Trent.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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, but not derivative transactions.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.

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