Whilst it may not be a huge deal, we thought it was good to see that the St Barbara Limited (ASX:SBM) MD, CEO & Director, Andrew Strelein, recently bought AU$94k worth of stock, for AU$0.19 per share. While we're hesitant to get too excited about a purchase of that size, we do note it increased their holding by a solid 50%.

Check out our latest analysis for St Barbara

St Barbara Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent purchase by Andrew Strelein was the biggest purchase of St Barbara shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price, which is AU$0.20. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. If someone buys shares at well below current prices, it's a good sign on balance, but keep in mind they may no longer see value. The good news for St Barbara share holders is that an insider was buying at near the current price. Andrew Strelein was the only individual insider to buy shares in the last twelve months.

You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date! insider-trading-volume

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this freelist of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Insider Ownership Of St Barbara

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. From looking at our data, insiders own AU$2.5m worth of St Barbara stock, about 1.5% of the company. We prefer to see high levels of insider ownership.



What Might The Insider Transactions At St Barbara Tell Us?

It is good to see the recent insider purchase. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. However, we note that the company didn't make a profit over the last twelve months, which makes us cautious. We would certainly prefer see higher levels of insider ownership but analysis of the insider transactions suggests that St Barbara insiders are expecting a bright future. 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 St Barbara that deserve your attention before buying any shares.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this freelist of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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.