Investors who take an interest in Great Western Exploration Limited (ASX:GTE) should definitely note that the Non-Executive Director, Grey Egerton-Warburton, recently paid AU$0.026 per share to buy AU$200k worth of the stock. That's a very decent purchase to our minds and it grew their holding by a solid 20%.

Check out our latest analysis for Great Western Exploration

Great Western Exploration Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent purchase by Non-Executive Director Grey Egerton-Warburton was not their only acquisition of Great Western Exploration shares this year. They previously made an even bigger purchase of AU$300k worth of shares at a price of AU$0.032 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at around the current price of AU$0.033. 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. 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. In this case we're pleased to report that the insider purchases were made at close to current prices.

Great Western Exploration insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of undervalued small cap companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Great Western Exploration insiders own about AU$2.7m worth of shares. That equates to 17% of the company. 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 Great Western Exploration Tell Us?

It is good to see recent purchasing. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. 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 Great Western Exploration insiders are well aligned, and that they may think the share price is too low. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Great Western Exploration. Be aware that Great Western Exploration is showing 5 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 3 of those are a bit unpleasant...

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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.