We've lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So we'll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Tilt Renewables Limited (NZSE:TLT).
Do Insider Transactions Matter?
It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information.
Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. As Peter Lynch said, 'insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise'.
Check out our latest analysis for Tilt Renewables
Tilt Renewables Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
The insider, Clayton Delmarter, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for NZ$121k worth of shares at a price of NZ$3.12 each. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (NZ$3.58). As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. We note that the biggest single sale was only 31% of Clayton Delmarter's holding.
Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid NZ$379k for 213.29k shares. On the other hand they divested 71.01k shares, for NZ$227k. In total, Tilt Renewables insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. The average buy price was around NZ$1.78. It is certainly positive to see that insiders have invested their own money in the company. But we must note that the investments were made at well below today's share price. 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!
There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).