Investors who take an interest in CECO Environmental Corp. (NASDAQ:CECO) should definitely note that the Independent Director, Richard Wallman, recently paid US$25.18 per share to buy US$378k worth of the stock. While that's a very decent purchase to our minds, it was proportionally a bit modest, boosting their holding by just 5.6%.

Check out our latest analysis for CECO Environmental

CECO Environmental Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent purchase by Independent Director Richard Wallman was not the only time they bought CECO Environmental shares this year. They previously made an even bigger purchase of US$989k worth of shares at a price of US$19.78 per share. We do like to see buying, but this purchase was made at well below the current price of US$24.88. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

While CECO Environmental insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn't sell. They paid about US$22.11 on average. To my mind it is good that insiders have invested their own money in the company. However, you should keep in mind that they bought when the share price was meaningfully below today's levels. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

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 CECO Environmental

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. It appears that CECO Environmental insiders own 6.9% of the company, worth about US$60m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At CECO Environmental Tell Us?

The recent insider purchase is heartening. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest CECO Environmental insiders are well aligned, and that they may think the share price is too low. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for CECO Environmental (of which 1 can't be ignored!) you should know about.

Of course CECO Environmental 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.

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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.