Need To Know: iA Financial Corporation Inc. (TSE:IAG) Insiders Have Been Buying Shares

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 shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in iA Financial Corporation Inc. (TSE:IAG).

Do Insider Transactions Matter?

It's quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.

Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. 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'.

View our latest analysis for iA Financial

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At iA Financial

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by CEO, President & Director Denis Ricard for CA$271k worth of shares, at about CA$54.20 per share. That means that even when the share price was higher than CA$46.35 (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. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. 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 45.38k shares for CA$2.0m. But insiders sold 3.00k shares worth CA$206k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by iA Financial insiders. Their average price was about CA$45.04. These transactions show that insiders have confidence to invest their own money in the stock, albeit at slightly below the recent 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 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.

Insiders at iA Financial Have Bought Stock Recently

Over the last quarter, iA Financial insiders have spent a meaningful amount on shares. In total, insiders bought CA$335k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any sales whatsoever. This is a positive in our book as it implies some confidence.

Insider Ownership of iA Financial

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. From our data, it seems that iA Financial insiders own 0.1% of the company, worth about CA$7.0m. Overall, this level of ownership isn't that impressive, but it's certainly better than nothing!

What Might The Insider Transactions At iA Financial Tell Us?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchases. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. On this analysis the only slight negative we see is the fairly low (overall) insider ownership; their transactions suggest that they are quite positive on iA Financial stock. 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. At Simply Wall St, we found 1 warning sign for iA Financial that deserve your attention before buying any shares.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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, but not derivative transactions.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.

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