Even if it's not a huge purchase, we think it was good to see that Peter Smith, the Executive Chairman & MD of Truscott Mining Corporation Limited (ASX:TRM) recently shelled out AU$131k to buy stock, at AU$0.07 per share. However, it only increased their shares held by 2.9%, and it wasn't a huge purchase by absolute value, either.
See our latest analysis for Truscott Mining
Notably, that recent purchase by Peter Smith is the biggest insider purchase of Truscott Mining shares that we've seen in the last year. That implies that an insider found the current price of AU$0.07 per share to be enticing. That means they have been optimistic about the company in the past, though they may have changed their mind. While we always like to see insider buying, it's less meaningful if the purchases were made at much lower prices, as the opportunity they saw may have passed. In this case we're pleased to report that the insider bought shares at close to current prices. The only individual insider to buy over the last year was Peter Smith.
Peter Smith bought a total of 6.87m shares over the year at an average price of AU$0.064. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!
Truscott Mining 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.
For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Truscott Mining insiders own about AU$9.0m worth of shares (which is 67% of the company). I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.
It is good to see the recent insider purchase. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. However, we note that the company didn't make a profit over the last twelve months, which makes us cautious. Once you factor in the high insider ownership, it certainly seems like insiders are positive about Truscott Mining. Looks promising! So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. When we did our research, we found 4 warning signs for Truscott Mining (3 are concerning!) that we believe deserve your full attention.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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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