It is usually uneventful when a single insider buys stock. However, When quite a few insiders buy shares, as it happened in Kemper Corporation's (NYSE:KMPR) 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.

Kemper Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Lead Independent Director Stuart Parker for US$414k worth of shares, at about US$41.40 per share. Even though the purchase was made at a significantly lower price than the recent price (US$58.74), we still think insider buying is a positive. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 16.40k shares for US$692k. But insiders sold 5.00k shares worth US$228k. In total, Kemper insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

Kemper is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider 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. Kemper insiders own 4.7% of the company, currently worth about US$175m based on the recent share price. 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 Kemper Insider Transactions Indicate?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. With high insider ownership and encouraging transactions, it seems like Kemper insiders think the business has merit. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. For example - Kemper has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

Of course Kemper 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.