Potential Suncor Energy Inc. (TSE:SU) shareholders may wish to note that the Director, Brian MacDonald, recently bought CA$189k worth of stock, paying CA$37.74 for each share. That certainly has us anticipating the best, especially since they thusly increased their own holding by 62.5%, potentially signalling some real optimism.

View our latest analysis for Suncor Energy

Suncor Energy Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when insider Steven Williams bought CA$2.0m worth of shares at a price of CA$36.86 per share. That implies that an insider found the current price of CA$37.41 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 Suncor Energy insiders decided to buy shares at close to current prices.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders bought 111k shares for a total of CA$4.1m. In the last twelve months Suncor Energy insiders were buying shares, but not selling. You can see the insider transactions (by 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!

TSX:SU Recent Insider Trading, August 8th 2019

Insider Ownership of Suncor Energy

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Insiders own 0.05% of Suncor Energy shares, worth about CA$32m. 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 Does This Data Suggest About Suncor Energy Insiders?

It’s certainly positive to see the recent insider purchase. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. Insiders likely see value in Suncor Energy shares, given these transactions (along with notable insider ownership of the company). Of course, the future is what matters most. So if you are interested in Suncor Energy, you should check out this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

But note: Suncor Energy 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, but not derivative transactions.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.