Westrock Coffee Company (NASDAQ:WEST) shareholders (or potential shareholders) will be happy to see that the Director, Kenneth Parent, recently bought a whopping US$506k worth of stock, at a price of US$8.07. That purchase boosted their holding by 126%, which makes us wonder if the move was inspired by quietly confident deeply-felt optimism.

Check out our latest analysis for Westrock Coffee

Westrock Coffee Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent purchase by Kenneth Parent was the biggest purchase of Westrock Coffee shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of US$6.92. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. 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$925k for 115.83k shares. But insiders sold 28.72k shares worth US$221k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Westrock Coffee insiders. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of undervalued small cap companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It's great to see that Westrock Coffee insiders own 16% of the company, worth about US$102m. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Westrock Coffee Insiders?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchases. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. However, we note that the company didn't make a profit over the last twelve months, which makes us cautious. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest Westrock Coffee insiders are well aligned, and quite possibly think the share price is too low. Nice! In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Westrock Coffee. Be aware that Westrock Coffee is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those is a bit unpleasant...

But note: Westrock Coffee 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.