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Mainfreight Limited (NZSE:MFT) shareholders (or potential shareholders) will be happy to see that the Founding Owner & Executive Chairman, Bruce Plested, recently bought a whopping NZ$1.2m worth of stock, at a price of NZ$68.06. There's no denying a buy of that magnitude suggests conviction in a brighter future, although we do note that proportionally it only increased their holding by 0.1%.
View our latest analysis for Mainfreight
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Mainfreight
Notably, that recent purchase by Founding Owner & Executive Chairman Bruce Plested was not the only time they bought Mainfreight shares this year. Earlier in the year, they paid NZ$69.49 per share in a NZ$3.5m purchase. That means that even when the share price was higher than NZ$67.50 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. 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.
Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 123.02k shares worth NZ$8.9m. But they sold 5.00k shares for NZ$390k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Mainfreight insiders. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. 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 Mainfreight
Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Mainfreight insiders own about NZ$1.3b worth of shares (which is 18% of the company). 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 Does This Data Suggest About Mainfreight Insiders?
It is good to see recent purchasing. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. Once you factor in the high insider ownership, it certainly seems like insiders are positive about Mainfreight. One for the watchlist, at least! Therefore, you should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Mainfreight.