Insiders who bought US$264.8k worth of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) stock in the last year have seen some of their losses recouped as the stock gained 11% last week. The purchase, however, has proven to be a pricey bet, with losses currently totalling US$142k.
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 & Executive Director Corning Painter for US$222k worth of shares, at about US$11.08 per share. That means that even when the share price was higher than US$5.26 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. 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.
In the last twelve months Orion insiders were buying shares, but not selling. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!
Check out our latest analysis for Orion
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).
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. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 3.0% of Orion shares, worth about US$8.9m, according to our data. Whilst better than nothing, we're not overly impressed by these holdings.
It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Orion shares in the last quarter. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. The transactions are fine but it'd be more encouraging if Orion insiders bought more shares in the company. While it's good to be aware of what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. Our analysis shows 2 warning signs for Orion (1 is concerning!) and we strongly recommend you look at them before investing.
Of course Orion 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.