WASHINGTON (DJN) - Executives of Max Re Capital Ltd. have been consistent buyers of their company's stock since the Bermuda-based reinsurer went public in August 2001, and four insiders spent $564,000 more on company shares in February.

Max Re Chief Financial Officer Keith S. Hynes, for example, bought 20,000 company shares in February for $219,000. He noted the consistent pattern of buying by company insiders before last month.

Still, some analysts of insider trends said the previous purchases actually weaken the bullish signal sent by the most recent purchases.

Jonathan Moreland, director of research for the newsletter Insiderinsights.com, said he has mostly stayed away from buying stocks in the insurance industry, in part because he isn't optimistic about pricing trends.

He said he noticed February's insider purchases at Max Re. "It's just not enough to get through my ... negative feel on the insurance industry," he said.

Lon Gerber, director of insider research for Thomson Financial, said Max Re isn't the only insurer that has experienced recent insider buying. Insiders also acquired shares of American Financial Group Inc., UICI and Unitrin Inc. in February, he said.

Messrs. Moreland and Gerber both said that although the Max Re insider purchases provide cause for optimism, the fact that company insiders were previously willing to buy at much higher prices weakens the signal sent by the current buying. For example, Chief Executive Robert J. Cooney, who reported spending $281,472 for 25,179 shares in February, previously had bought 175,700 shares, paying as much as the original initial-public-offering price of $16 a share, according to data from Thomson Financial. In Nasdaq Stock Market trading yesterday, Max Re shares were seven cents higher at $11.17.

Such purchases by Mr. Cooney and others don't reflect well on the insiders' ability or willingness to anticipate near-term stock price appreciation, said Mr. Gerber. "It's an encouraging thing," said Mr. Gerber of the buying, "but I don't see it as a market-timing thing."

Michael Painchaud, research director for Market Profile Theorems, was even less impressed. He said the previous insider buying at Max Re effectively rendered the February buys meaningless as a signal.

"The odds of making anything out of these transactions are extremely small. You're just throwing a dart," he said.

"Any reasonably designed insider model will look at this and say, `There's nothing there'. The company's Mr. Hynes takes a bullish view, of course. He says industry pricing trends, the company's investment style and the company's short operating history all play to the advantage of Max Re.

"Insurance premiums are rising dramatically across the board," said Mr. Hynes, whose company, through its subsidiaries, offers reinsurance to property and casualty insurers, life and health insurers, and large corporations.

Mr. Hynes said that in the late 1990s, the insurance industry undercharged on premiums - a problem that Max Re doesn't share because Max Re didn't begin its underwriting operations until 2000.

"Companies are still struggling from these legacy issues," said Mr. Hynes. "We don't have any of these legacy issues, so we think it's just a great time. ...We don't have to use the present market to pay for past sins."

This article first appeared in yesterday's Wall Street Journal.