Yahoo Finance Need To Know: A.G. BARR p.l.c. (LON:BAG) Insiders Have Been Buying 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 A.G. BARR p.l.c. (LON:BAG), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.
What Is Insider Selling?
Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock in the company. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required.
Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. For example, a Harvard University study found that 'insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year'.
View our latest analysis for A.G. BARR
A.G. BARR Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Commercial Director & Executive Director Jonathan Kemp bought UK£53k worth of shares at a price of UK£4.00 per share. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of UK£5.20. While it does suggest insiders consider the stock undervalued at lower prices, this transaction doesn't tell us much about what they think of current prices.
Jonathan Kemp bought 21.25k shares over the last 12 months at an average price of UK£4.36. 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!
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 A.G. BARR
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. It's great to see that A.G. BARR insiders own 16% of the company, worth about UK£91m. I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.
So What Do The A.G. BARR Insider Transactions Indicate?
Insider purchases may have been minimal, in the last three months, but there was no selling at all. Overall the buying isn't worth writing home about. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Insiders own shares in A.G. BARR and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about 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. For example - A.G. BARR has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.
Of course A.G. BARR 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, 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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