Yahoo Finance Have Insiders Been Buying Empiric Student Property plc (LON:ESP) Shares?
We've lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. On the other hand, we'd be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So before you buy or sell Empiric Student Property plc (LON:ESP), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.
What Is Insider Selling?
It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information.
We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. For example, a Harvard University study found that 'insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year'.
View our latest analysis for Empiric Student Property
Empiric Student Property Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
Notably, that recent purchase by Duncan Garrood is the biggest insider purchase of Empiric Student Property shares that we've seen in the last year. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being UK£0.84). Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock when an insider has bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price. Duncan Garrood was the only individual insider to buy shares in the last twelve months.
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!
Empiric Student Property is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.
Insider Ownership
For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company 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. From what we can see in our data, insiders own only about UK£256k worth of Empiric Student Property shares. It's always possible we are missing something but from our data, it looks like insider ownership is minimal.
So What Do The Empiric Student Property Insider Transactions Indicate?
It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchase. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. 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 Empiric Student Property insiders are expecting a bright future. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Empiric Student Property. To help with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs (1 is a bit unpleasant!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in Empiric Student Property.
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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