The recent 15% drop in Victoria PLC's (LON:VCP) stock could come as a blow to insiders who purchased UK£393.7k worth of stock at an average buy price of UK£0.42 over the past 12 months. This is not good as insiders invest based on expectations that their money will appreciate over time. However, as a result of recent losses, their original investment is now worth only UK£297.7k.
While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.
Victoria Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
The Executive Chairman Geoffrey Wilding made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for UK£101k worth of shares at a price of UK£0.67 each. That means that even when the share price was higher than UK£0.32 (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.
Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 930.25k shares worth UK£394k. But they sold 21.66k shares for UK£8.8k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Victoria insiders. Their average price was about UK£0.42. These transactions suggest that insiders have considered the current price attractive. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!
See our latest analysis for Victoria
There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of undervalued small cap companies that insiders are buying.
Victoria Insiders Are Selling The Stock
The last three months saw some Victoria insider selling. COO & Head of Rugs and North America Roberto Moreno divested only UK£8.8k worth of shares in that time. Neither the lack of buying nor the presence of selling is heartening. But the selling simply isn't sufficiently substantial to be of much use as a signal.
Insider Ownership
Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Insiders own 23% of Victoria shares, worth about UK£8.6m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.
So What Does This Data Suggest About Victoria Insiders?
Our data shows a little more insider selling, but no insider buying, in the last three months. But the sales were small, so we're not concerned. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Insiders do have a stake in Victoria and their transactions don't cause us concern. While it's good to be aware of 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. For example, Victoria has 4 warning signs (and 1 which is a bit concerning) we think you should know about.
But note: Victoria 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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