Potential EnGro Corporation Limited (SGX:S44) shareholders may wish to note that the Executive Chairman, Cheng Gay Tan, recently bought S$151k worth of stock, paying S$0.70 for each share. While that's a very decent purchase to our minds, it was proportionally a bit modest, boosting their holding by just 1.2%.

EnGro Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent purchase by Cheng Gay Tan is the biggest insider purchase of EnGro shares that we've seen in the last year. That means that even when the share price was higher than S$0.69 (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. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing shares. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when an insider has purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price. Cheng Gay Tan was the only individual insider to buy during the last year.

Cheng Gay Tan bought 351.10k shares over the last 12 months at an average price of S$0.73. 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 always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. If investing in lesser known companies is your style, you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Does EnGro Boast High Insider Ownership?

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that EnGro insiders own 15% of the company, worth about S$13m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About EnGro Insiders?

The recent insider purchase is heartening. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. But we don't feel the same about the fact the company is making losses. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of EnGro we think they are probably pretty confident of a bright future. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing EnGro. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for EnGro (of which 3 are a bit unpleasant!) you should know about.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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.