Usually, when one insider buys stock, it might not be a monumental event. But when multiple insiders are buying like they did in the case of Hallador Energy Company (NASDAQ:HNRG), that sends out a positive message to the company's shareholders.
Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.
View our latest analysis for Hallador Energy
In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Independent Director Charles Wesley bought US$240k worth of shares at a price of US$5.25 per share. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of US$10.68. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.
While Hallador Energy insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn't sell. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
Hallador Energy 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.
I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 12% of Hallador Energy shares, worth about US$54m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.
It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Hallador Energy shares in the last quarter. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Insiders own shares in Hallador Energy and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about the future. 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 assist with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Hallador Energy.
Of course Hallador 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 of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.
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