Yahoo Finance Insiders who bought into Atlas Salt Inc. (CVE:SALT) earlier this year might wish they'd invested more as stock gained 17%
Atlas Salt Inc. (CVE:SALT) insiders who purchased shares in the last 12 months were richly rewarded last week. The stock climbed by 17% resulting in a CA$21m addition to the company’s market value. In other words, the original CA$597k purchase is now worth CA$1.9m.
Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.
Check out our latest analysis for Atlas Salt
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Atlas Salt
In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the CEO & Director, Patrick Laracy, sold CA$400k worth of shares at a price of CA$0.40 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of CA$1.88, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent valuation. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. This single sale was just 24% of Patrick Laracy's stake. Patrick Laracy was the only individual insider to sell over the last year.
Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 1.02m shares worth CA$597k. But they sold 1.00m shares for CA$400k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Atlas Salt insiders. They paid about CA$0.59 on average. It is certainly positive to see that insiders have invested their own money in the company. However, we do note that they were buying at significantly lower prices than today's share price. 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).
Atlas Salt Insiders Bought Stock Recently
We saw some Atlas Salt insider buying shares in the last three months. Independent Director John Anderson bought CA$42k worth of shares in that time. It's great to see that insiders are only buying, not selling. However, in this case the amount invested recently is quite small.
Insider Ownership of Atlas Salt
Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 5.8% of Atlas Salt shares, worth about CA$8.6m, according to our data. Overall, this level of ownership isn't that impressive, but it's certainly better than nothing!
So What Do The Atlas Salt Insider Transactions Indicate?
We note a that there has been a bit of insider buying recently (but no selling). That said, the purchases were not large. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. The transactions are fine but it'd be more encouraging if Atlas Salt insiders bought more shares in the company. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for Atlas Salt (3 are a bit unpleasant) you should be aware of.
Of course Atlas Salt may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.
For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
