Insiders were net buyers of Kaiser Aluminum Corporation's (NASDAQ:KALU ) stock during the past year. That is, insiders bought more stock than they sold.
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.
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by CEO, President & Chairman Keith Harvey for US$200k worth of shares, at about US$77.25 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price, which is US$79.96. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. 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. The good news for Kaiser Aluminum share holders is that an insider was buying at near the current price. Keith Harvey was the only individual insider to buy during the last year.
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!
See our latest analysis for Kaiser Aluminum
Kaiser Aluminum 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.
Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Kaiser Aluminum insiders own about US$24m worth of shares. That equates to 2.0% of the company. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.
The fact that there have been no Kaiser Aluminum insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. Insiders own shares in Kaiser Aluminum and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about the future. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Kaiser Aluminum. You'd be interested to know, that we found 2 warning signs for Kaiser Aluminum and we suggest you have a look.
Of course Kaiser Aluminum 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.