It is usually uneventful when a single insider buys stock. However, When quite a few insiders buy shares, as it happened in Schaffer Corporation Limited's (ASX:SFC) case, it's fantastic news for shareholders.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Check out our latest analysis for Schaffer

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Schaffer

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Non-Executive Independent Director David Schwartz bought AU$149k worth of shares at a price of AU$22.00 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being AU$20.99). 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. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing shares. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock if insiders have bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price.

In the last twelve months Schaffer insiders were buying shares, but not selling. 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).

Insiders At Schaffer Have Bought Stock Recently

It's good to see that Schaffer insiders have made notable investments in the company's shares. Non-Executive Independent Director David Schwartz spent AU$262k on stock, and there wasn't any selling. This could be interpreted as suggesting a positive outlook.

Insider Ownership

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. It's great to see that Schaffer insiders own 50% of the company, worth about AU$142m. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

So What Do The Schaffer Insider Transactions Indicate?

The recent insider purchase is heartening. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. Once you factor in the high insider ownership, it certainly seems like insiders are positive about Schaffer. Looks promising! So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. Be aware that Schaffer is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those is potentially serious...