Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) insiders who purchased shares in the last 12 months were richly rewarded last week. The stock climbed by 12% resulting in a US$90m addition to the company’s market value. In other words, the original US$91k purchase is now worth US$91k.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

Check out our latest analysis for Hawkins

Hawkins Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Executive VP Jeffrey Oldenkamp for US$91k worth of shares, at about US$39.75 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price, which is US$39.75. Of course they may have changed their mind. But this suggests they are optimistic. While we always like to see insider buying, it's less meaningful if the purchases were made at much lower prices, as the opportunity they saw may have passed. Happily, the Hawkins insider decided to buy shares at close to current prices. The only individual insider to buy over the last year was Jeffrey Oldenkamp.

You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership Of Hawkins

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Hawkins insiders own about US$36m worth of shares. That equates to 4.3% of the company. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Hawkins Tell Us?

The fact that there have been no Hawkins insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. Overall we don't see anything to make us think Hawkins insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. While conducting our analysis, we found that Hawkins has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore it.