Investors who take an interest in Genasys Inc. (NASDAQ:GNSS) should definitely note that the Director, Mark Culhane, recently paid US$2.66 per share to buy US$133k worth of the stock. That certainly has us anticipating the best, especially since they thusly increased their own holding by 250%, potentially signalling some real optimism.

Check out our latest analysis for Genasys

Genasys Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent purchase by Mark Culhane was the biggest purchase of Genasys shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price, which is US$2.73. Of course they may have changed their mind. But this suggests they are optimistic. 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 Genasys insiders decided to buy shares at close to current prices.

Genasys insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. They paid about US$2.18 on average. We don't deny that it is nice to see insiders buying stock in the company. However, we do note that they were buying at significantly lower prices than today's share price. 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).

Does Genasys Boast High Insider Ownership?

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Based on our data, Genasys insiders have about 2.5% of the stock, worth approximately US$3.0m. We consider this fairly low insider ownership.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Genasys Tell Us?

The recent insider purchase is heartening. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. But on the other hand, the company made a loss during the last year, which makes us a little cautious. While the overall levels of insider ownership are below what we'd like to see, the history of transactions imply that Genasys insiders are reasonably well aligned, and optimistic for the future. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Genasys. To help with this, we've discovered 3 warning signs (1 is significant!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in Genasys.

But note: Genasys 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 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.