Tempus on Wednesday declared that ‘Tate and Lyles share price caning is an opportunity to buy back in’, after the share price fell 10% over the judges decision of a patent case on sucralose.

Clearly management at Tate and Lyle (TATE, 384p) agree with Tempus. Six directors bought shares at just over 380p on Wednesday and Thursday this week, investing just under GBP 30k each on avearge, and increasing their holdings by an average of close to 60%.

Directors have been active at prices between 380p and 440p since October last year, taking the total number of directors (exec and non exec) buying shares to seven out of a board of 10, a significant proportion.

I’d love to see a bit more cash committed by directors, but in light of the consistent buying over the year, the % increase in holdings, and the high proportion of the board participating, I believe these share purchases to be a STRONG signal.

Signal strength: STRONG

For details of directors activity see www.digitallook.com, type in TATE, and choose Director Deals tab.