Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) shareholders (or potential shareholders) will be happy to see that the Founder, Ronald Mittelstaedt, recently bought a whopping US$7.6m worth of stock, at a price of US$152. Not only is that a big swing, but it increased their holding size by 20%, which is definitely great to see.

Waste Connections Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent purchase by Ronald Mittelstaedt was the biggest purchase of Waste Connections shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That implies that an insider found the current price of US$155 per share to be enticing. That means they have been optimistic about the company in the past, though they may have changed their mind. While we always like to see insider buying, it's less meaningful if the purchases were made at much lower prices, as the opportunity they saw may have passed. Happily, the Waste Connections insider decided to buy shares at close to current prices. The only individual insider to buy over the last year was Ronald Mittelstaedt.

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!

Waste Connections 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 Waste Connections Boast High 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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Waste Connections insiders own about US$89m worth of shares. That equates to 0.2% 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 Do The Waste Connections Insider Transactions Indicate?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchase. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest Waste Connections insiders are well aligned, and that they may think the share price is too low. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Waste Connections.

But note: Waste Connections 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.

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.