In This Article:
We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So before you buy or sell James Cropper PLC (LON:CRPR), 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, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.
We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. For example, a Columbia University study found that 'insiders are more likely to engage in open market purchases of their own company’s stock when the firm is about to reveal new agreements with customers and suppliers'.
See our latest analysis for James Cropper
James Cropper Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
Chairman of the Board Mark A. Cropper made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for UK£423k worth of shares at a price of UK£10.50 each. We do like to see buying, but this purchase was made at well below the current price of UK£13.55. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.
In the last twelve months insiders purchased 49.68k shares for UK£527k. But they sold 2243 for UK£22k. Overall, James Cropper insiders were net buyers last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
James Cropper is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
Insiders at James Cropper Have Bought Stock Recently
We saw some James Cropper insider buying shares in the last three months. CEO & Executive Director Philip Wild bought UK£25k worth of shares in that time. It's great to see that insiders are only buying, not selling. But the amount invested in the last three months isn't enough for us too put much weight on it, as a single factor.
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. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Insiders own 27% of James Cropper shares, worth about UK£35m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.