Insider Trades: Directors are buying shares in these 17 small-to-mid cap ASX companies

Welcome back to the Insider Trades Series – A summary of small-to-mid cap director transactions valued at more than $10,000. The on-market trades have all taken place between February 15 and 23.

As reporting season enters its final week, trading restrictions are lifting for early reporters, leading to a surge in director buying for everything from microcaps to blue chips. You can read more about interesting large cap transactions here.

Below, we've highlighted a few of the more unique insider trades and grouped the rest at the very bottom.

Healthco's major shareholder loads up

David Di Pilla is a non-executive director at Healthco and the Chief Executive of HMC Capital – which happens to be the largest shareholder of Healthco.

On 16 February 2024, HMC Capital (via De Pilla) increased its holding of the company from 16.45% to 22.12% via a 31.9 million block trade at $1.335 per share.

Temple & Webster directors sell into strength

Temple & Webster has had an extraordinary run on the back of peak interest rate expectations, bouncing back from a period of slow growth and taking sustainable market share from peers. The stock is up around 260% in the past 12 months.

After reporting strong first-half earnings on 12 February, the stock has climbed about 24%. The results surpassed analyst predictions, with a trading update for January revealing a robust 35% year-on-year revenue growth. Analysts express confidence in the company's future revenue growth, attributing it to the ongoing shift to online platforms in the sector and Temple & Webster's strong market position.

Insiders including chief executive Mark Coulter sold shares just three days after the half-year result. This marks the first insider sell since September 2021.

Temple & Webster 12-month price chart (Source: Market Index)

Calima Energy's aggressive insider

Executive director and chairman Glenn Whiddon has been has logged nine on-market buys since late August 2023. The parcels have typically been sized between $20,000 to $290,000.

On 5 January 2024, the company announced it had entered into a binding agreement with Astra Energy Corp to sell 100% of its wholly owned Canadian subsidiary, Blackspur Oil Corp for a cash consideration of approximately $83.3 million. Calima shares finished the session 53% higher to 10 cents.

To add some perspective, the stock is currently trading at 12 cents with a market cap of around $75 million. Simply put, the company's cash balance will soon be greater than its market cap.

“For some time, the share price of Calima has not accurately reflected the value of Calima’s oil and gas assets vis a vis our Canadian peers. The Blackspur Sale presents an excellent opportunity for Calima shareholders to benefit from this differential," said Whiddon.

Calima Energy 6-month price chart (Source: Market Index)

Baby Bunting insiders buy into weakness

Baby Bunting shares are currently on a seven day skid, down 18%. The company reported a weak set of first-half numbers on 20 February, including:

• Revenue down 3% to $248.5 million

• Pro-forma net profit after tax down 31.4% to $3.5 million

• Trading update for 26 December 2023 to 16 February 2024 noted total sales down 1.4% year-on-year and comparable store sales down 3.2% year-on-year

The stock was hit with a number of downgrades from brokers including Citi.

"While we see potential for a turnaround in performance, it appears like it will be longer and perhaps more difficult than we initially thought. We downgrade our rating to Neutral. To turn more positive, we need more information around how much investment is required, the expected returns and associated timing," the analysts said in a note dated 20 February.

Three non-executive directors have stepped up with on-market buys in recent days. But all three positions are down around 4-7% so far.

Baby Bunting 12-month price chart (Source: Market Index)

Top small-to-mid cap insider trades