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Investors who take an interest in British American Tobacco p.l.c. (LON:BATS) should definitely note that the Independent Non-Executive Director, Karen Guerra, recently paid UK£30.55 per share to buy UK£101k worth of the stock. That's a very solid buy in our book, and increased their holding by a noteworthy 41%.
See our latest analysis for British American Tobacco
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At British American Tobacco
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Independent Non-Executive Director Ming Kwan for UK£266k worth of shares, at about UK£33.22 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being UK£31.11). 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. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when insiders have purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price.
In the last twelve months insiders purchased 16.30k shares for UK£530k. On the other hand they divested 5.06k shares, for UK£177k. In total, British American Tobacco insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. 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!
There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.
Insider Ownership Of British American Tobacco
Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. British American Tobacco insiders own 8.7% of the company, currently worth about UK£6.0b based on the recent share price. I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.
So What Does This Data Suggest About British American Tobacco Insiders?
The recent insider purchases are heartening. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. Along with the high insider ownership, this analysis suggests that insiders are quite bullish about British American Tobacco. One for the watchlist, at least! While we like knowing 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. While conducting our analysis, we found that British American Tobacco has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore them.