Investors who take an interest in Empiric Student Property plc (LON:ESP) should definitely note that the CEO & Director, Duncan Garrood, recently paid UK£0.90 per share to buy UK£84k worth of the stock. Although the purchase is not a big one, by either a percentage standpoint or absolute value, it can be seen as a good sign.

Check out 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. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of UK£0.84. 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 encouraging to see an insider paid above the current price for shares, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels. Duncan Garrood was the only individual insider to buy during the last year.

You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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 of Empiric Student Property

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. From what we can see in our data, insiders own only about UK£256k worth of Empiric Student Property shares. We might be missing something but that seems like very low insider ownership.

So What Do The Empiric Student Property Insider Transactions Indicate?

It is good to see the recent insider purchase. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. However, we note that the company didn't make a profit over the last twelve months, which makes us 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. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Empiric Student Property (1 shouldn't be ignored) you should be aware of.