It is are raven zz plants toxic to catsnot uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in

Cranswick plc

(

LON:CWK

).

What Is Insider Selling?

Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock on the market. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information.

We don’t think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. For example, a Colombia University

study

found that ‘insiders are more likely to engage in open market purchases of their own company’s stock when the firm is about to reveal new agreements with customers and suppliers’.

View our latest analysis for Cranswick

Cranswick Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Group Finance Director & Executive Director Mark Bottomley made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for UK£589k worth of shares at a price of UK£32.35 each. That means that an insider was selling shares at around the current price of UK£26.32. They could have a variety of motivations for selling, but it’s still not particularly encouraging to see. Arguably, insider selling at around current prices should give us reason to reflect on whether the stock is fully valued at the moment. Notably Mark Bottomley was also the biggest buyer, having purchased UK£80k worth of shares.

In total, Cranswick insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. They sold for an average price of about UK£32.75. It’s not ideal to see that insiders have sold at around the current price. But we don’t put too much weight on the insider selling, since sellers could have personal reasons. You can see the insider transactions over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

LSE:CWK Insider Trading January 2nd 19

If you are like me, then you will

not

want to miss this

free

list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Does Cranswick Boast High Insider Ownership?

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Cranswick insiders own 1.3% of the company, currently worth about UK£17m based on the recent share price. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

Story continues

So What Does This Data Suggest About Cranswick Insiders?

The fact that there have been no Cranswick insider transactions recently certainly doesn’t bother us. Our analysis of Cranswick insider transactions leaves us cautious. But it’s good to see that insiders own shares in the company. Of course,

the future is what matters most

. So if you are interested in Cranswick, you should check out this

free

report on analyst forecasts for the company

.

But note:

Cranswick 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.

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.

The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at

[email protected]

.

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