Viewing insider transactions for SunCoke Energy, Inc.'s (NYSE:SXC ) over the last year, we see that insiders were net sellers. This means that a larger number of shares were sold by insiders in relation to shares purchased.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

SunCoke Energy Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the insider, Michael Rippey, sold US$2.5m worth of shares at a price of US$11.11 per share. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$8.33. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it. Michael Rippey was the only individual insider to sell shares in the last twelve months.

Michael Rippey sold a total of 471.38k shares over the year at an average price of US$11.02. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

For those who like to find hidden gems this free list of small cap companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insider Ownership Of SunCoke Energy

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. From our data, it seems that SunCoke Energy insiders own 1.0% of the company, worth about US$6.9m. Whilst better than nothing, we're not overly impressed by these holdings.

What Might The Insider Transactions At SunCoke Energy Tell Us?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by SunCoke Energy insiders. We also note that, as far as we can see, insider ownership is fairly low, compared to other companies. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Be aware that SunCoke Energy is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those can't be ignored...

But note: SunCoke Energy may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

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.