Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI) insiders who purchased shares in the last 12 months were richly rewarded last week. The stock climbed by 14% resulting in a US$72m addition to the company's market value. As a result, their original purchase of US$753.8k worth of stock is now worth US$1.44m.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Gannett

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Independent Director Laurence Tarica for US$370k worth of shares, at about US$1.85 per share. Even though the purchase was made at a significantly lower price than the recent price (US$4.23), we still think insider buying is a positive. While it does suggest insiders consider the stock undervalued at lower prices, this transaction doesn't tell us much about what they think of current prices.

While Gannett insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn't sell. They paid about US$2.22 on average. It is certainly positive to see that insiders have invested their own money in the company. However, we do note that they were buying at significantly lower prices than today's share price. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

Gannett 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.

Does Gannett 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. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Gannett insiders own about US$56m worth of shares. That equates to 9.9% of the company. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Gannett Insiders?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Overall we don't see anything to make us think Gannett insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Gannett. While conducting our analysis, we found that Gannett has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore it.

But note: Gannett 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.