Yahoo Finance Trade Alert: The Independent Director Of W&T Offshore, Inc. (NYSE:WTI), B. Stanley, Has Just Spent US$54k Buying 6.0% More Shares
Whilst it may not be a huge deal, we thought it was good to see that the W&T Offshore, Inc. (NYSE:WTI) Independent Director, B. Stanley, recently bought US$54k worth of stock, for US$3.60 per share. Although the purchase is not a big one, increasing their shareholding by only 6.0%, it can be interpreted as a good sign.
See our latest analysis for W&T Offshore
W&T Offshore Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
The Founder Tracy Krohn made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$745k worth of shares at a price of US$2.15 each. Even though the purchase was made at a significantly lower price than the recent price (US$3.68), we still think insider buying is a positive. Because the shares were purchased at a lower price, this particular buy doesn't tell us much about how insiders feel about the current share price.
While W&T Offshore insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn't sell. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. 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).
Insider Ownership of W&T Offshore
Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. It's great to see that W&T Offshore insiders own 35% of the company, worth about US$182m. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.
So What Do The W&T Offshore Insider Transactions Indicate?
It is good to see the recent insider purchase. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. However, we note that the company didn't make a profit over the last twelve months, which makes us cautious. Once you factor in the high insider ownership, it certainly seems like insiders are positive about W&T Offshore. Nice! So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. When we did our research, we found 2 warning signs for W&T Offshore (1 is significant!) that we believe deserve your full attention.
Of course W&T Offshore 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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