Star Entertainment Group Insider Ups Holding By 37% During Year

From what we can see, insiders were net buyers in The Star Entertainment Group Limited’s (ASX:SGR ) during the past 12 months. That is, insiders acquired the stock in greater numbers than they sold it.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

View our latest analysis for Star Entertainment Group

The insider Bruce Mathieson made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for AU$31m worth of shares at a price of AU$0.54 each. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of AU$0.19. 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 an insider has purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price. Bruce Mathieson was the only individual insider to buy during the last year.

Bruce Mathieson bought a total of 102.88m shares over the year at an average price of AU$0.48. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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).

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. Star Entertainment Group insiders own about AU$60m worth of shares. That equates to 11% of the company. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

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. Insiders do have a stake in Star Entertainment Group 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. While conducting our analysis, we found that Star Entertainment Group has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore it.

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