Investors who take an interest in Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON) should definitely note that the Chief Financial Officer, Paul Joachimczyk, recently paid US$49.64 per share to buy US$400k worth of the stock. That's a very solid buy in our book, and increased their holding by a noteworthy 39%.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Sonoco Products

The President Robert Coker made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$823k worth of shares at a price of US$41.17 each. We do like to see buying, but this purchase was made at well below the current price of US$48.45. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$2.5m for 58.79k shares. But they sold 1.58k shares for US$89k. In total, Sonoco Products insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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 Of Sonoco Products

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Sonoco Products insiders own about US$58m worth of shares. That equates to 1.2% 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 Sonoco Products Insider Transactions Indicate?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchase. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of Sonoco Products we think they are probably pretty confident of a bright future. While it's good to be aware of what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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.