Even if it's not a huge purchase, we think it was good to see that Pak Fai Lau, the Co-Founder & Honorary Chairman of International Housewares Retail Company Limited (HKG:1373) recently shelled out HK$594k to buy stock, at HK$2.18 per share. Although the purchase is not a big one, increasing their shareholding by only 1.0%, it can be interpreted as a good sign.

See our latest analysis for International Housewares Retail

International Housewares Retail Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent purchase by Co-Founder & Honorary Chairman Pak Fai Lau was not their only acquisition of International Housewares Retail shares this year. Earlier in the year, they paid HK$2.64 per share in a HK$660k purchase. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of HK$2.19. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock when an insider has bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price. Pak Fai Lau was the only individual insider to buy during the last year.

Pak Fai Lau bought a total of 1.68m shares over the year at an average price of HK$2.57. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

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. International Housewares Retail insiders own about HK$256m worth of shares. That equates to 16% of the company. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At International Housewares Retail Tell Us?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchase. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. Along with the high insider ownership, this analysis suggests that insiders are quite bullish about International Housewares Retail. That's what I like to see! 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. While conducting our analysis, we found that International Housewares Retail has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore it.

Of course International Housewares Retail may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality 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.