ECB Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECBK) insiders who purchased shares in the last 12 months were richly rewarded last week. The stock climbed by 10% resulting in a US$18m addition to the company’s market value. As a result, the stock they originally bought for US$100.4k is now worth US$124.3k.
While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.
ECB Bancorp Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Independent Director Maura Sullivan bought US$59k worth of shares at a price of US$17.05 per share. We do like to see buying, but this purchase was made at well below the current price of US$21.66. 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 ECB Bancorp insiders were buying shares, but not selling. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!
View our latest analysis for ECB Bancorp
There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. If investing in lesser known companies is your style, you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).
Insider Ownership Of ECB Bancorp
For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 8.8% of ECB Bancorp shares, worth about US$16m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.
So What Do The ECB Bancorp Insider Transactions Indicate?
There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Insiders own shares in ECB Bancorp and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about the future. To put this in context, take a look at how a company has performed in the past. You can access this detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.
But note: ECB Bancorp 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 of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.
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