How Many Elementis plc (LON:ELM) Shares Did Insiders Buy, In The Last Year?

It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. On the other hand, we'd be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Elementis plc (LON:ELM).

What Is Insider Selling?

It's quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information.

We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. 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'.

See our latest analysis for Elementis

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Elementis

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Group CEO & Executive Director Paul Waterman bought UK£96k worth of shares at a price of UK£0.48 per share. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of UK£0.76. Because the shares were purchased at a lower price, this particular buy doesn't tell us much about how insiders feel about the current share price.

In the last twelve months Elementis insiders were buying shares, but not selling. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

Elementis is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insider Ownership of Elementis

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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Our information indicates that Elementis insiders own about UK£760k worth of shares. We might be missing something but that seems like very low insider ownership.

So What Do The Elementis Insider Transactions Indicate?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Elementis shares in the last quarter. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. While we have no worries about the insider transactions, we'd be more comfortable if they owned more Elementis stock. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Elementis. In terms of investment risks, we've identified 1 warning sign with Elementis and understanding it should be part of your investment process.

But note: Elementis 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, 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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