Did Otelco Inc. (NASDAQ:OTEL) Insiders Buy Up More Shares?
We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. On the other hand, we’d be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Otelco Inc. (NASDAQ:OTEL).
What Is Insider Buying?
It’s quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required.
Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. As Peter Lynch said, ‘insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise.’
Check out our latest analysis for Otelco
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Otelco
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Ira Sochet for US$919k worth of shares, at about US$15.05 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at around the current price. 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. Nonetheless, we consider it positive if insiders want to buy at around the current share price.
Happily, we note that in the last year insiders bought 410.24k shares for a total of US$6.3m. In total, Otelco insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. They paid about US$15.37 on average. It’s great to see insiders putting their own cash into the company’s stock, albeit at below the recent share price (US$15.61). You can see the insider transactions (by 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!
Otelco 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 Otelco Have Bought Stock Recently
Over the last three months, we’ve seen significant insider buying at Otelco. We can see that Ira Sochet paid US$2.6m for shares in the company. No-one sold. This makes one think the business has some good points.
Does Otelco Boast High 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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that Otelco insiders own 36% of the company, worth about US$19m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.
So What Do The Otelco Insider Transactions Indicate?
The recent insider purchase is heartening. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. Insiders likely see value in Otelco shares, given these transactions (along with notable insider ownership of the company). I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can access this interactive graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow for free .
Of course Otelco may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.
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If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
