It certainly has been a tough time for Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) shares and its shareholders.
After being among the best performers on the ASX 200 index on a 12-month basis as recently as August, a series of negative events have weighed heavily on the airline's share price. So much so, that it is now among the worst performers on the index.
But every cloud has a silver lining. The silver lining on this occasion is the discount that investors can pick up Qantas shares at compared with just a couple of months ago.
Insider buying
One of Qantas' directors appears to believe this discount is too good to ignore.
According to a change of director's interest notice, independent non-executive director Doug Parker has been buying Qantas shares on-market this week.
The notice reveals that the former American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL) CEO snapped up 100,000 shares at an average price of $4.973 per share on 11 October. This equates to a total consideration of $497,300.
These are the first Qantas shares that Parker has bought since joining the company in May. At that point, I doubt he believed he would have an opportunity to invest at that price. But lo and behold, that's where we are today.
Should you buy Qantas shares?
The broker community remains overwhelmingly bullish on Qantas shares, with many tipping big returns over the next 12 months.
For example, at the end of last month, Goldman Sachs reiterated its buy rating with an $8.25 price target. This implies a potential upside of 63% for investors from current levels.
To put that into context, if the Qantas share price were to rise to that level, Doug Parker's 100,000 shares would have a market value of $825,000. That's over $300,000 more than the price he paid.
