Strategic Minerals Independent Non-Executive Director Acquires 40% More Stock

Even if it's not a huge purchase, we think it was good to see that Philip Haydn-Slater, the Independent Non-Executive Director of Strategic Minerals Plc (LON:SML) recently shelled out UK£72k to buy stock, at UK£0.036 per share. While we're hesitant to get too excited about a purchase of that size, we do note it increased their holding by a solid 40%.

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Strategic Minerals Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent purchase by Philip Haydn-Slater is the biggest insider purchase of Strategic Minerals 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 UK£0.035). 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. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when an insider has purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price. Philip Haydn-Slater was the only individual insider to buy shares in the last twelve months.

Philip Haydn-Slater purchased 7.00m shares over the year. The average price per share was UK£0.012. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

Check out our latest analysis for Strategic Minerals

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).

Does Strategic Minerals Boast High Insider Ownership?

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. It appears that Strategic Minerals insiders own 11% of the company, worth about UK£11m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Strategic Minerals Tell Us?

The recent insider purchase is heartening. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest Strategic Minerals insiders are well aligned, and that they may think the share price is too low. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. You'd be interested to know, that we found 4 warning signs for Strategic Minerals and we suggest you have a look.

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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.