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Whilst it may not be a huge deal, we thought it was good to see that the Ensign Energy Services Inc. (TSE:ESI) President, Robert Geddes, recently bought CA$109k worth of stock, for CA$2.17 per share. However, it only increased their shares held by 2.6%, and it wasn't a huge purchase by absolute value, either.
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Ensign Energy Services
In fact, the recent purchase by President Robert Geddes was not their only acquisition of Ensign Energy Services shares this year. Earlier in the year, they paid CA$2.90 per share in a CA$146k purchase. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of CA$1.97. 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. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when insiders have purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price.
Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid CA$483k for 190.09k shares. On the other hand they divested 60.00k shares, for CA$175k. In total, Ensign Energy Services insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. They paid about CA$2.54 on average. I'd consider this a positive as it suggests insiders see value at around the current price. 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!
View our latest analysis for Ensign Energy Services
Ensign Energy Services is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find small cap companies at attractive valuations, this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
Does Ensign Energy Services Boast High Insider Ownership?
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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Ensign Energy Services insiders own about CA$99m worth of shares. That equates to 27% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.