OSL Group Limited (HKG:863) insiders who purchased shares in the last 12 months were richly rewarded last week. The stock climbed by 16% resulting in a HK$507m addition to the company’s market value. In other words, the original HK$961.7m purchase is now worth HK$1.28b.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

View our latest analysis for OSL Group

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At OSL Group

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when insider Shuai Liu bought HK$713m worth of shares at a price of HK$3.80 per share. Even though the purchase was made at a significantly lower price than the recent price (HK$5.91), we still think insider buying is a positive. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid HK$962m for 216.05m shares. On the other hand they divested 5.35m shares, for HK$34m. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by OSL Group insiders. The average buy price was around HK$4.45. It is certainly positive to see that insiders have invested their own money in the company. However, we do note that they were buying at significantly lower prices than today's share price. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

OSL Group 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.

Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. 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 OSL Group insiders own 34% of the company, worth about HK$1.3b. I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About OSL Group Insiders?

The fact that there have been no OSL Group insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. It would be great to see more insider buying, but overall it seems like OSL Group insiders are reasonably well aligned (owning significant chunk of the company's shares) and optimistic for the future. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. 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 OSL Group.

But note: OSL Group 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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