Over the last year, a good number of insiders have significantly increased their holdings in Eagers Automotive Limited (ASX:APE). This is encouraging because it indicates that insiders are more optimistic about the company's prospects.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

See our latest analysis for Eagers Automotive

Eagers Automotive Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Non-Executive Director Nicholas Politis made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for AU$2.1m worth of shares at a price of AU$10.54 each. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of AU$12.74. While it does suggest insiders consider the stock undervalued at lower prices, this transaction doesn't tell us much about what they think of current prices.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 736.00k shares worth AU$7.6m. But insiders sold 123.19k shares worth AU$1.8m. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Eagers Automotive insiders. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

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 Of Eagers Automotive

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Eagers Automotive insiders own about AU$102m worth of shares. That equates to 3.1% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Eagers Automotive Tell Us?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Eagers Automotive shares in the last quarter. 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 Eagers Automotive insiders are reasonably well aligned (owning significant chunk of the company's shares) and optimistic for the future. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Eagers Automotive. Our analysis shows 2 warning signs for Eagers Automotive (1 is significant!) and we strongly recommend you look at them before investing.

Of course Eagers Automotive 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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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.