We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Great Atlantic Resources Corp. (CVE:GR).

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, 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. For example, a Harvard University study found that 'insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year'.

View our latest analysis for Great Atlantic Resources

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Great Atlantic Resources

In fact, the recent purchase by Eric Sprott was the biggest purchase of Great Atlantic Resources shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. We do like to see buying, but this purchase was made at well below the current price of CA$0.65. 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 insiders purchased 2.17m shares for CA$1.0m. On the other hand they divested 42.60k shares, for CA$27k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Great Atlantic Resources insiders. 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!

Great Atlantic Resources 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.

Insiders at Great Atlantic Resources Have Bought Stock Recently

It's good to see that Great Atlantic Resources insiders have made notable investments in the company's shares. In total, insiders bought CA$1.0m worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any sales whatsoever. This is a positive in our book as it implies some confidence.

Does Great Atlantic Resources Boast High Insider Ownership?

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It appears that Great Atlantic Resources insiders own 19% of the company, worth about CA$2.9m. 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 Great Atlantic Resources Insiders?

The recent insider purchases are heartening. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. But we don't feel the same about the fact the company is making losses. Insiders likely see value in Great Atlantic Resources shares, given these transactions (along with notable insider ownership of the company). 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. To help with this, we've discovered 4 warning signs (2 are potentially serious!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in Great Atlantic Resources.

But note: Great Atlantic Resources 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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