Given the public nature of a listed stock on the FTSE, various disclosures are required. This includes regular financial updates, annual accounts, and other releases that are handy for me as an investor. Another helpful tool is the publication of buying and selling of company shares by the directors. This can give me an indication from the inside about whether now is a good time to buy or not! Here’s some interesting spots from December so far.
Banking on a move higher
The first deal I noted was relating to non-exec director Cathy Turner at Lloyds Banking Group. She purchased 424,113 ordinary shares in the bank at the start of the month. The average buying price was 46.92p, with a total value of £198,993.81.
Lloyds shares have been sluggish for much of 2022, trading in a range roughly between 40p and 50p. Despite improvements in the financial results thanks to increasing interest rates, the stock hasn’t been able to break higher.
With a gloomy outlook for the UK economy, I think that’s one reason why the stock has been treading water. However, I’d imagine Turner is optimistic about the prospects for the company heading into 2023.
Buying from the top-down
A second director purchase of size was from the CEO of Record, Leslie Hill. She bought 133,716 ordinary shares at an average price of 87.24p for a total value of £116,654.78.
Record is a currency and asset management company. For the year ending March 2022, revenue jumped from £25.4m to £35.1m, with assets under management also rising. This helps to explain the 8.75% share price appreciation over the past year, with an impressive 83.1% gain in the past two years.
Having the CEO invested in the business is a positive. It ties their interests to that of the shareholders in wanting to achieve growth in the stock over time.
A new FTSE CEO getting involved
Another CEO that has been buying his company shares is Dalton Philips of Greencore. He purchased £126,652.50 worth of Greencore stock, getting 195,000 shares at 64.95p.
What I find interesting about this is that Philips only took on the role back in September. From 2010 to 2015, he was the CEO of WM Morrison’s. Clearly, he has experience leading a large business, so I’ll be keen to follow his progress at Greencore.
In a similar way to Record, this large purchase of stock will help to align the CEO to share price aspirations in the coming years of his tenure.
The impact of director dealings
I don’t own any of the stocks mentioned above. Even though I’m unlikely to buy any before year-end, the director dealings data does allow me to spot potential opportunities. Especially with smaller companies such as Record, it helps to flag up shares and directors that are performing well. From there, I can investigate further to see it it warrants a spot on my watch list for 2023.
