Yahoo Finance How Much Are Firm Capital Mortgage Investment Corporation (TSE:FC) Insiders Taking Off The Table?
We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. 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 Firm Capital Mortgage Investment Corporation (TSE:FC).
What Is Insider Buying?
It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a 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 Harvard University study found that 'insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year.'
Check out our latest analysis for Firm Capital Mortgage Investment
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Firm Capital Mortgage Investment
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the COO, Executive VP & Director, Jonathan Mair, for CA$94k worth of shares, at about CA$13.41 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of CA$13.75. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. It is worth noting that this sale was only 7.9% of Jonathan Mair's holding.
In the last twelve months insiders purchased 9300 shares for CA$122k. On the other hand they divested 14800 shares, for CA$196k. All up, insiders sold more shares in Firm Capital Mortgage Investment than they bought, over the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!
If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.
Are Firm Capital Mortgage Investment Insiders Buying Or Selling?
We saw Independent Director Morris Fischtein buy shares worth CA$14k in the last three months. However that only slightly eclipses the sales, CA$14k worth of sales. Overall, we don't think these recent trades are particularly informative, one way or the other.
Does Firm Capital Mortgage Investment Boast High Insider Ownership?
For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. From our data, it seems that Firm Capital Mortgage Investment insiders own 1.9% of the company, worth about CA$7.2m. We do generally prefer see higher levels of insider ownership.
What Might The Insider Transactions At Firm Capital Mortgage Investment Tell Us?
Insider buying and selling have balanced each other out in the last three months, so we can't deduct anything useful from these recent trades. We're a little cautious about the insider selling at Firm Capital Mortgage Investment. And we're not picking up on high enough insider ownership to give us any comfort. If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.
If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
