Even if it's not a huge purchase, we think it was good to see that James Frew, the President & CFO of Amplify Energy Corp. (NYSE:AMPY) recently shelled out US$99k to buy stock, at US$3.95 per share. While we're hesitant to get too excited about a purchase of that size, we do note it increased their holding by a solid 13%.

Amplify Energy Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent purchase by President & CFO James Frew was not their only acquisition of Amplify Energy shares this year. They previously made an even bigger purchase of US$268k worth of shares at a price of US$3.70 per share. That implies that an insider found the current price of US$3.94 per share to be enticing. That means they have been optimistic about the company in the past, though they may have changed their mind. If someone buys shares at well below current prices, it's a good sign on balance, but keep in mind they may no longer see value. In this case we're pleased to report that the insider bought shares at close to current prices. James Frew was the only individual insider to buy shares in the last twelve months.

James Frew bought 100.00k shares over the last 12 months at an average price of US$3.66. 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!

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).

Insider Ownership

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Our data indicates that Amplify Energy insiders own about US$7.9m worth of shares (which is 4.8% of the company). We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. Overall, this level of ownership isn't that impressive, but it's certainly better than nothing!

So What Does This Data Suggest About Amplify Energy Insiders?

The recent insider purchase is heartening. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. While the overall levels of insider ownership are below what we'd like to see, the history of transactions imply that Amplify Energy insiders are reasonably well aligned, and optimistic for the future. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Amplify Energy. While conducting our analysis, we found that Amplify Energy has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore this.

Of course Amplify Energy 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.

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.