Tom Konrad CFA
In the US insider trades are easily found on the SEC website, stock exchange websites, and financial aggregation sites. No so in Canada. A search for insider trades for a Toronto-listed stock on Google will turn up all the financial aggregation websites, but they don’t have any data.
The TSX has more clean technology listings than any other exchange worldwide, many of which are truly international. I follow several, so I was thrilled when I came across CanadianInsider, where anyone can peruse recent insider trades for Canadian listed companies.
Of the 14 Canadian clean technology companies I own, here are the ones that have seen recent insider buying.
Company: New Flyer Industries Inc.
Canadian Ticker: TSX:NFI
US Ticker: OTC:NFYEF
Business: The largest manufacturer of heavy-duty transit buses in North America.
- President and CEO Paul Soubry bought 14,400 shares at C$10.80 and C$10.64 on August 20th and June 25th
- Board Member Wayne McLeod bought 3,200 shares at C$11.25 on August 14th
- Executive Vice President Wayne Joseph bought 9688 shares at C$11.25, C$10,90, and C$10.75 on August 13, June 28th and June 26th.
- Major Shareholder Coliseum Capital Management, LLC bought over 42,600 shares during the last two weeks of August at prices from C$10.76 to C$10.80.
Company: Ram Power Corp.
Canadian Ticker: TSX:RPG
US Ticker: OTC:RAMPF
Business: Geothermal Power developer and operator with main projects in Nicaragua and the US.
Who’s Buying: Director Alistair Sinclair bought 1,100,000 shares at C$0.15 on June 18th.
Company: Alterra Power Corp.
Canadian Ticker: TSX:AXY
US Ticker: OTC:MGMXF
Business: Renewable Energy Developer and operator with a diversified portfolio of geothermal, run of river hydropower, wind and solar assets on three continents.
Who’s Buying: Executive Chairman and founder Ross Beaty bought 37.6 million shares at prices between C$0.29 and C$0.32 in April and June. He has hinted that he might buy the entire company if the stock price does not recover.
Companies: Renewable Energy Developers (ReD) and Capstone Infrastructure Corp.
Canadian Tickers: TSX: RDZ and TSX:CSE
US Ticker: OTC: STWPF and OTC:MCQPF
Business: Canadian Renewable Energy and Clean infrastructure developer and operator Capstone is in the process acquiring smaller ReD in an all-share deal. Each ReD share will be worth 0.26 Capstone share.
Who’s Buying: Director of both firms Uwe Roper bought 39,000 shares of RDZ at C$0.99 on July 31st, and 25,000 shares of Capstone at C$3.85 on July 13th.
Company: Innergex Renewable Energy, Inc.
Canadian Ticker: TSX:INE
US Ticker: OTC:INGXF
Business: Canadian power producer Innergex owns 23 run-of-river hydro plants, 5 wind farms, and one solar farm.
- CFO and SVP Jean Perron bought 2,000 shares at C$8.89 on June 25th.
- President and CEO Michel Letellier bought 3,000 shares at C$8.95-9.20 in June.
- Director Richard Laflamme bought 1,000 shares at C$8.85 on August 13th.
- Corporate Secretary and director of legal affairs Nathalie Théberge bought 500 shares at C$9.64 on June 6th.
- Director John Hanna bought 5,000 preferred shares at C$18.75-18.80 on July 16th and 18th.
Conclusion
Insiders can be as bad at timing the market as anyone, but insider buying can be a useful indicator that the people in charge of the company think it’s undervalued.
Few insiders need to buy their own stock to get exposure to the company: Share and option grants are standard in most compensation packages. When you see insiders buying shares in the open market in addition to these grants, it’s often a good time to consider buying yourself.
Disclosure: I own all these stocks.
This article was first published on the author’s Forbes.com blog, Green Stocks on August 23rd.
DISCLAIMER: Past performance is not a guarantee or a reliable indicator of future results. This article contains the current opinions of the author and such opinions are subject to change without notice. This article has been distributed for informational purposes only. Forecasts, estimates, and certain information contained herein should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. Information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but not guaranteed.
