Investors who take an interest in HollyFrontier Corporation (NYSE:HFC) should definitely note that the Independent Chairman of the Board, Franklin Myers, recently paid US$34.69 per share to buy US$347k worth of the stock. That's a very solid buy in our book, and increased their holding by a noteworthy 32%.

View our latest analysis for HollyFrontier

HollyFrontier Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent purchase by Franklin Myers was the biggest purchase of HollyFrontier 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$35.65. Of course they may have changed their mind. But this suggests they are optimistic. 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. The good news for HollyFrontier share holders is that insiders were buying at near the current price.

In the last twelve months HollyFrontier insiders were buying shares, but not selling. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

HollyFrontier is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

Insider Ownership of HollyFrontier

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. 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 HollyFrontier insiders own 0.7% of the company, worth about US$41m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At HollyFrontier Tell Us?

It is good to see recent purchasing. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. However, we note that the company didn't make a profit over the last twelve months, which makes us cautious. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest HollyFrontier 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. Our analysis shows 2 warning signs for HollyFrontier (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) and we strongly recommend you look at them before investing.

Of course HollyFrontier 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, but not derivative transactions.

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. 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.

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