Favourable Signals For Univest Financial: Numerous Insiders Acquired Stock
Generally, when a single insider buys stock, it is usually not a big deal. However, when several insiders are buying, like in the case of Univest Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:UVSP), it sends a favourable message to the company's shareholders.
Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.
View our latest analysis for Univest Financial
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Univest Financial
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Alternate Director Martin Connor for US$86k worth of shares, at about US$17.25 per share. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of US$20.00. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.
In the last twelve months insiders purchased 8.21k shares for US$148k. On the other hand they divested 0.70 shares, for US$12.9. Overall, Univest Financial insiders were net buyers during the last year. 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!
There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.
Univest Financial Insiders Bought Stock Recently
We saw some Univest Financial insider buying shares in the last three months. Independent Director Natalye Paquin purchased US$15k worth of shares in that period. It's great to see that insiders are only buying, not selling. But the amount invested in the last three months isn't enough for us too put much weight on it, as a single factor.
Does Univest Financial Boast High Insider Ownership?
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. Insiders own 1.8% of Univest Financial shares, worth about US$10m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.
What Might The Insider Transactions At Univest Financial Tell Us?
We note a that there has been a bit of insider buying recently (but no selling). That said, the purchases were not large. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. Overall we don't see anything to make us think Univest Financial insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Univest Financial. While conducting our analysis, we found that Univest Financial has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore this.
If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list 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 of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.
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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.
