Those following along with Sonida Senior Living, Inc. (NYSE:SNDA) will no doubt be intrigued by the recent purchase of shares by insider Shmuel Levinson, who spent a stonking US$6.8m on stock at an average price of US$27.00. Not only is that a big swing, but it increased their holding size by 10%, which is definitely great to see.

View our latest analysis for Sonida Senior Living

Sonida Senior Living Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent purchase by Shmuel Levinson was the biggest purchase of Sonida Senior Living shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That implies that an insider found the current price of US$27.02 per share to be enticing. That means they have been optimistic about the company in the past, though they may have changed their mind. While we always like to see insider buying, it's less meaningful if the purchases were made at much lower prices, as the opportunity they saw may have passed. Happily, the Sonida Senior Living insiders decided to buy shares at close to current prices.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$7.7m for 320.31k shares. But they sold 9.19k shares for US$259k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Sonida Senior Living insiders. The average buy price was around US$23.92. It is certainly positive to see that insiders have invested their own money in the company. However, you should keep in mind that they bought when the share price was meaningfully below today's levels. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

Sonida Senior Living is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find small cap companies at attractive valuations, this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

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. Insiders own 5.9% of Sonida Senior Living shares, worth about US$29m. 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 Sonida Senior Living Tell Us?

It is good to see recent purchasing. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. But on the other hand, the company made a loss during the last year, which makes us a little cautious. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest Sonida Senior Living insiders are well aligned, and that they may think the share price is too low. 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. Our analysis shows 2 warning signs for Sonida Senior Living (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) and we strongly recommend you look at these before investing.