It is usually uneventful when a single insider buys stock. However, When quite a few insiders buy shares, as it happened in Westhaven Gold Corp.'s (CVE:WHN) case, it's fantastic news for shareholders.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

Check out our latest analysis for Westhaven Gold

Westhaven Gold Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Chairman David Thomas made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for CA$86k worth of shares at a price of CA$0.60 each. That means that even when the share price was higher than CA$0.36 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for 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.

Westhaven Gold insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. Their average price was about CA$0.50. I'd consider this a positive as it suggests insiders see value at around the current price. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

Westhaven Gold 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.

Are Westhaven Gold Insiders Buying Or Selling?

We saw some Westhaven Gold insider buying shares in the last three months. Chief Financial Officer Shaun Pollard shelled out CA$7.4k for shares in that time. It's good to see the insider buying, as well as the lack of recent sellers. But in this case the amount purchased means the recent transaction may not be very meaningful on its own.

Insider Ownership Of Westhaven Gold

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Insiders own 17% of Westhaven Gold shares, worth about CA$7.7m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Westhaven Gold Insiders?

Our data shows a little insider buying, but no selling, in the last three months. Overall the buying isn't worth writing home about. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Insiders own shares in Westhaven Gold and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about the future. 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. When we did our research, we found 4 warning signs for Westhaven Gold (3 make us uncomfortable!) that we believe deserve your full attention.

But note: Westhaven Gold may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE 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, but not derivative transactions.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.

Join A Paid User Research Session
You’ll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here