Whilst it may not be a huge deal, we thought it was good to see that Andrew Studdert, who is a company insider, recently bought US$56k worth of stock, for US$5.65 per share. While we're hesitant to get too excited about a purchase of that size, we do note it increased their holding by a solid 15%.
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Alta Equipment Group
The CEO & Chairman, Ryan Greenawalt, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$397k worth of shares at a price of US$11.36 each. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$6.04). So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price. Notably Ryan Greenawalt was also the biggest buyer, having purchased US$317k worth of shares.
In the last twelve months insiders purchased 34.00k shares for US$317k. But insiders sold 59.58k shares worth US$681k. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Alta Equipment Group shares, than buying. The average sell price was around US$11.44. Insider selling doesn't make us excited to buy. But we note that the selling, on average, was at well above the recently traded price of US$6.04. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!
I will like Alta Equipment Group better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.
Insider Ownership
Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Insiders own 20% of Alta Equipment Group shares, worth about US$38m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.
So What Do The Alta Equipment Group Insider Transactions Indicate?
It is good to see recent purchasing. On the other hand the transaction history, over the last year, isn't so positive. While recent transactions indicate confidence in Alta Equipment Group, insiders don't own enough of the company to overcome our cautiousness about the longer term transactions. Overall they seem reasonably aligned. While it's good to be aware of what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. When we did our research, we found 4 warning signs for Alta Equipment Group (1 is significant!) that we believe deserve your full attention.
Of course Alta Equipment Group may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.
For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.