EVO) Insiders Have Been Buying Shares

It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So before you buy or sell Evolve Education Group Limited (NZSE:EVO), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.

Do Insider Transactions Matter?

Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock in the company. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required.

We don’t think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. For example, a Harvard University study found that ‘insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year’.

See our latest analysis for Evolve Education Group

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Evolve Education Group

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when CEO of New Zealand Operations & Director Timothy Wong bought NZ$980k worth of shares at a price of NZ$0.14 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of NZ$0.097. 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. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock if insiders have bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price.

Evolve Education Group insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn’t sell any. 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!

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Evolve Education Group 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 Evolve Education Group

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Based on our data, Evolve Education Group insiders have about 3.5% of the stock, worth approximately NZ$3.8m. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven’t picked up on. I generally like to see higher levels of ownership.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Evolve Education Group Insiders?

There haven’t been any insider transactions in the last three months — that doesn’t mean much. 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 Evolve Education Group 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. While conducting our analysis, we found that Evolve Education Group has 3 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore them.

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