Potential Methanex Corporation (TSE:MX) shareholders may wish to note that the Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, Kevin Maloney, recently bought CA$613k worth of stock, paying CA$53.76 for each share. That certainly has us anticipating the best, especially since they thusly increased their own holding by 61%, potentially signalling some real optimism.

Check out our latest analysis for Methanex

Methanex Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent purchase by Kevin Maloney is the biggest insider purchase of Methanex shares that we've seen in the last year. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being CA$53.11). It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. 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 CA$2.7m for 51.69k shares. On the other hand they divested 14.13k shares, for CA$952k. Overall, Methanex insiders were net buyers during the last year. 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!

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. If investing in lesser known companies is your style, you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Insider Ownership

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. 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 appears that Methanex insiders own 0.8% of the company, worth about CA$28m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Methanex Insiders?

It is good to see recent purchasing. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. Insiders likely see value in Methanex shares, given these transactions (along with notable insider ownership of the company). So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. While conducting our analysis, we found that Methanex has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore these.

Of course Methanex 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.