Krispy Kreme, Inc. (NASDAQ:DNUT) shareholders (or potential shareholders) will be happy to see that the Director, Bernardo Hees, recently bought a whopping US$2.1m worth of stock, at a price of US$3.36. Aside from being a solid chunk in its own right, the deft move also saw their holding increase by some 41%.

Krispy Kreme Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent purchase by Bernardo Hees was the biggest purchase of Krispy Kreme 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$3.51 per share to be enticing. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. We do always like to see insider buying, but it is worth noting if those purchases were made at well below today's share price, as the discount to value may have narrowed with the rising price. Happily, the Krispy Kreme insider decided to buy shares at close to current prices. The only individual insider to buy over the last year was Bernardo Hees.

Bernardo Hees bought a total of 855.19k shares over the year at an average price of US$3.37. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

Krispy Kreme 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.

Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Insiders own 4.2% of Krispy Kreme shares, worth about US$26m. 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 Krispy Kreme Insiders?

The recent insider purchase is heartening. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. However, we note that the company didn't make a profit over the last twelve months, which makes us cautious. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of Krispy Kreme we think they are probably pretty confident of a bright future. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. To assist with this, we've discovered 1 warning sign that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Krispy Kreme.

Of course Krispy Kreme 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.