Those following along with Liberty Latin America Ltd. (NASDAQ:LILA) will no doubt be intrigued by the recent purchase of shares by Brendan Paddick, Independent Director of the company, who spent a stonking US$746k on stock at an average price of US$7.10. While that only increased their holding size by 8.5%, it is still a big swing by our standards.

Check out our latest analysis for Liberty Latin America

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Liberty Latin America

Notably, that recent purchase by Independent Director Brendan Paddick was not the only time they bought Liberty Latin America shares this year. Earlier in the year, they paid US$9.10 per share in a US$3.6m purchase. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of US$6.96. 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. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. It is generally more encouraging if they paid above the current price, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$7.4m for 896.37k shares. On the other hand they divested 15.17k shares, for US$119k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Liberty Latin America insiders. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and 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!

Liberty Latin America is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find small cap companies at attractive valuations, this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Does Liberty Latin America 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. Liberty Latin America insiders own about US$144m worth of shares (which is 11% of the company). 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 Does This Data Suggest About Liberty Latin America Insiders?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchase. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. But on the other hand, the company made a loss during the last year, which makes us a little cautious. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest Liberty Latin America insiders are well aligned, and quite possibly think the share price is too low. That's what I like to see! Therefore, you should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Liberty Latin America.

But note: Liberty Latin America 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 of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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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.