Insider Trades: Directors are buying shares in these 5 small-cap ASX companies

Welcome back to the Insider Trades Series – A summary of on-market director transactions valued at more than $10,000 that have taken place between 19 and 23 January 2024.

We recorded no large cap on-market trades this week, potentially reflecting black-out periods ahead of February reporting season.

Top ASX Insider Trades

Iris Metals is a lithium explorer focused on the development of the Longview and Beecher mines located in South Dakota, United States. The company acquired the two mines in March 2023 and drilling programs are currently underway to support future scoping studies.

Iris was a major success story back in 2022-23, with its shares up almost 800% from trough to peak. But the recent fallout for the lithium sector has seen the stock spiral almost 80% from recent peaks.

Recent announcements such as "Multiple wide, high-grade and shallow lithium intersections', "78m at 1.03% from 19m confirms major lithium discovery" and "Black diamond-drilling intersections continuous 93.5m pegmatite" would have likely pushed the share price higher during the lithium bull market. Now, the stock has the tendency to sell off on any announcement – Both good and bad.

Non-Executive Chairman Simon Lill has purchased two parcels in recent weeks, marking the company's first ever insider buy.

Iris Metals price chart (Source: TradingView)

Frontier Energy is developing the Bristol Springs Project in WA. This project aims to produce green hydrogen via a large scale 114MW solar project. The company expects to deliver a Stage One Definitive Feasibility Study for the solar facility in February.

Executive Chairman Grant Davey bought a $40,000 parcel at around 29 cents last week. He was also seen purchasing around the low-to-mid 30 cent level in July to November last year.

Frontier Energy 12-month price chart (Source: Market Index)

Winsome Resources is another beaten up lithium junior (down 74% from August 2023 highs). Managing Director Chris Evans purchased 33,333 shares at 59 cents per share. Evans holds just under 4.5 million WR1 shares as well as 3.0 million options.

This marks the first insider buy since July 2022 (when the stock was trading at just 20 cents).

Winsome Resources 12-month price chart (Source: Market Index)