Kearny Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:KRNY) insiders who purchased shares in the last 12 months were richly rewarded last week. The stock climbed by 13% resulting in a US$54m addition to the company's market value. As a result, their original purchase of US$253.6k worth of stock is now worth US$294.7k.

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.

Kearny Financial Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Independent Director Christopher Petermann bought US$61k worth of shares at a price of US$6.15 per share. Even though the purchase was made at a significantly lower price than the recent price (US$7.25), we still think insider buying is a positive. Because the shares were purchased at a lower price, this particular buy doesn't tell us much about how insiders feel about the current share price.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 40.65k shares worth US$254k. But they sold 9.80k shares for US$59k. Overall, Kearny Financial insiders were net buyers during the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

Kearny Financial 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.

Kearny Financial Insiders Bought Stock Recently

We saw some Kearny Financial insider buying shares in the last three months. insider Melvina Wong-Zaza bought US$53k worth of shares in that time. But Executive VP & Chief Credit Officer Thomas DeMedici sold US$38k worth. It is nice to see that insiders have bought, but the quantum isn't large enough to get us excited.

Insider Ownership

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It appears that Kearny Financial insiders own 5.2% of the company, worth about US$23m. 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 Do The Kearny Financial Insider Transactions Indicate?

We note a that there has been a bit of insider buying recently (but no selling). Overall the buying isn't worth writing home about. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. Overall we don't see anything to make us think Kearny Financial insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. While it's good to be aware of 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. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Kearny Financial you should know about.

But note: Kearny Financial 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 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.