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Read This Before Selling Bonanza Creek Energy, Inc. (NYSE:BCEI) 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 shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Bonanza Creek Energy, Inc. (NYSE:BCEI).

What Is Insider Buying?

It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information.

We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares. 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'.

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Check out our latest analysis for Bonanza Creek Energy

Bonanza Creek Energy Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Executive VP & CFO Brant DeMuth made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$50k worth of shares at a price of US$16.80 each. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price, which is US$17.71. 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. 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 Bonanza Creek Energy insider decided to buy shares at close to current prices. Brant DeMuth was the only individual insider to buy shares in the last twelve months.

You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

insider-trading-volume
insider-trading-volume

Bonanza Creek Energy 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.

Does Bonanza Creek Energy Boast High Insider Ownership?

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Our data suggests Bonanza Creek Energy insiders own 0.8% of the company, worth about US$2.8m. I generally like to see higher levels of ownership.

So What Do The Bonanza Creek Energy Insider Transactions Indicate?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Bonanza Creek Energy shares in the last quarter. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. The transactions are fine but it'd be more encouraging if Bonanza Creek Energy 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. To help with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs (1 is a bit unpleasant!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in Bonanza Creek Energy.

Of course Bonanza Creek Energy 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.

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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