Challenger Gold Limited (ASX:CEL) insiders who purchased shares in the last 12 months were richly rewarded last week. The stock climbed by 12% resulting in a AU$36m addition to the company’s market value. As a result, their original purchase of AU$7.58m worth of stock is now worth AU$13.3m.
While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Non-Executive Chairman Eduardo Sergio Elsztain for AU$7.5m worth of shares, at about AU$0.08 per share. We do like to see buying, but this purchase was made at well below the current price of AU$0.14. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.
Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 94.73m shares worth AU$7.6m. But they sold 1.20m shares for AU$132k. Overall, Challenger Gold insiders were net buyers during the last year. 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!
Check out our latest analysis for Challenger Gold
Challenger Gold is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of under-the-radar companies with insider buying.
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. It appears that Challenger Gold insiders own 17% of the company, worth about AU$59m. 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 Challenger Gold insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Overall we don't see anything to make us think Challenger Gold insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Challenger Gold you should know about.
But note: Challenger Gold may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.
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.