Insider Trades: Directors are buying shares in these 5 ASX 200 companies

A summary of S&P/ASX 200 director transactions worth over $10,000 between 28 March and 4 April.

This week reflects a much slower period for director transactions, perhaps reflecting the uncertainty the market and economy is facing following the US banking crisis.

Top ASX 200 insider buys

Interesting observations

Relentless buying from Harvey Norman: It feels like Harvey Norman co-founder and executive chairman Gerry Harvey follows a pretty straightforward routine which includes waking up and buying company shares. He purchased a collective $80 million worth of company shares in March at a weighted average of approximately $3.78 per share.

Has coal bottomed: Coal miners are in an awkward place. Most larger cap names have been posting free cash flow yields of more than 30%. However, Newcastle coal prices have come down rather dramatically, from around US$400 a tonne at the beginning of the year to US$192 a tonne. Softening prices turns the attention to operations and the ability for miners to ramp up production.

New Hope shares are down around 20% from October 2022 all-time highs and trading around flat year-to-date. The company produced 9.98 million tonnes of coal in FY22 with plans to ramp production up to 13.4 million by September 2024. There have been four director transactions this year, three of which took place in the past week around the $5.50 level.

Iron ore bids:  Iron ore prices are generally skewed to the downside due to a more pronounced global economic slowdown and bumpy recovery for China, according to the Office of the Chief Economist. In light of this, it is interesting to see BHP director Gary Goldberg and non-executive director Jennifer Morris purchase relatively small parcels.