Investors who take an interest in Kingstone Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:KINS) should definitely note that the Independent Non-Executive Chairman, Thomas Newgarden, recently paid US$14.44 per share to buy US$440k worth of the stock. That certainly has us anticipating the best, especially since they thusly increased their own holding by 56%, potentially signalling some real optimism.

Kingstone Companies Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The insider Gregory Fortunoff made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$843k worth of shares at a price of US$17.11 each. That means that even when the share price was higher than US$14.86 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when insiders have purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$2.4m for 156.06k shares. But they sold 45.15k shares for US$750k. In total, Kingstone Companies insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

Kingstone Companies is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of under-the-radar companies with insider buying.

Insider Ownership Of Kingstone Companies

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. Kingstone Companies insiders own about US$40m worth of shares. That equates to 19% of the company. 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 Kingstone Companies Insider Transactions Indicate?

The recent insider purchases are heartening. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of Kingstone Companies we think they are probably pretty confident of a bright future. Of course, the future is what matters most.

Of course Kingstone Companies 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.