Yahoo Finance Need To Know: Chesapeake Gold Corp. (CVE:CKG) Insiders Have Been Buying Shares
It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So we'll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Chesapeake Gold Corp. (CVE:CKG).
What Is Insider Buying?
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, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information.
We don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. 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 Chesapeake Gold
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Chesapeake Gold
The insider Eric Sprott made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for CA$13m worth of shares at a price of CA$5.00 each. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being CA$4.48). 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 an insider has purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price. Eric Sprott was the only individual insider to buy during the last year.
Eric Sprott purchased 3.13m shares over the year. The average price per share was CA$5.09. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
Chesapeake Gold 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.
Insider Ownership
Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that Chesapeake Gold insiders own 37% of the company, worth about CA$111m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.
So What Do The Chesapeake Gold Insider Transactions Indicate?
The fact that there have been no Chesapeake Gold insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. It would be great to see more insider buying, but overall it seems like Chesapeake Gold insiders are reasonably well aligned (owning significant chunk of the company's shares) and optimistic for the future. 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 Chesapeake Gold has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore these.
But note: Chesapeake Gold may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.
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.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.
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