Insider Trades: Directors from Boral, Rio Tinto and Patriot Battery Metals are buying shares

Welcome back to the Insider Trades Series – A summary of on-market director trades valued at more than $10,000 between 7-14 August.

The volume of director transactions is beginning to pick up, notably for companies that have already reported June quarter or FY23 results, which is why we're splitting the series into small-to-mid caps and larger cap companies.

Top Larger Cap Director Trades

Boss Energy is kicking goals and insiders are beginning to nibble

Boss Energy is set to be the first ASX-listed uranium producer since the sector's decade long bear market that started around 2011. The company announced two major milestones this month, including:

• Delivery of the first set of NIMCIX loading and elution columns, which is central to its uranium processing plant

• High-grade drilling results from 21 holes that'll pave way for an increase and upgraded mineral resource

Boss has been one of few uranium stocks to break out of recent trading ranges, up a little over 50% year-to-date to levels not seen since 2008. The almost $70,000 buy from Independent Director Jan Honeyman represents the first insider buy since March 2022.

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

A Boral insider doesn't mind paying top dollar

Shares in Boral rallied 8.5% on the day of its FY23 results and then another 7.2% over the following two days. The result was incredibly strong, with net profit of $143 million coming in 23% ahead of Goldman Sachs expectations.

The past week has been almost vertical price action for Boral but Non-executive Director Mark Johnson doesn't seem to mind, buying $50,700 at $5.07.

Boral 12-month price chart (Source: Market Index)

A Rio Tinto insider buys on recent weakness

It's a tough time to be bullish on commodities. In the past week, we've witnessed one of China's largest property developers, Country Garden miss bond payments as well as one of its largest wealth managers, Zhongrong fail to make payouts on dozens of products.

The market's now waiting for more stimulus from China to buoy its beleaguered economy. If it comes, then it might also give key commodities like iron ore and copper a kick. But for now, commodities are on the back foot and so is Rio, down almost 15% since late July to levels not seen since November 2022.

Rio Tinto 12-month price chart (Source: Market Index)

Patriot announces a massive resource as lithium markets extend downtrend

Earlier this month, Patriot established itself as the largest lithium pegmatite mineral resource in the Americas and the 8th largest globally, at 109.2 million tonnes at grades of 1.42%.

The resource announcement also came with a C$109 million strategic investment from Albemarle, held at C$15.29 per share (7% premium to last close). The raise was well received with the stock rallying 10.6% the next day.

While the company is kicking goals, lithium price are saying otherwise. A recent Fastmarkets article noted a few bearish insights:

• “There were barely any spot trades over the past week, and the spot prices are still falling. The downtrend could persist into the near future,” a Chinese lithium producer source said.

• “The consumers are cautious and staying on the sidelines. They believe spot lithium prices in China haven’t reached a bottom yet,” a second Chinese lithium producer source said.

Despite broader market headwinds, Patriot CEO Blair Way added another 4,000 shares ($48,794) to bring his total direct holdings to 635,470.

Patriot Battery Metals 12-month price chart (Source: Market Index)