We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in CNA Financial Corporation (NYSE:CNA).
What Is Insider Buying?
Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock in the company. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required.
We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares. For example, a Columbia 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’.
Check out our latest analysis for CNA Financial
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At CNA Financial
In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Executive VP & Chief Underwriting Officer, Douglas Worman, sold US$462k worth of shares at a price of US$45.37 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$33.10. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price. The only individual insider seller over the last year was Douglas Worman.
Douglas Worman ditched 12.24k shares over the year. The average price per share was US$45.04. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.
Insider Ownership of CNA Financial
Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. CNA Financial insiders own about US$42m worth of shares. That equates to 0.5% of the company. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it’s enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.
What Might The Insider Transactions At CNA Financial Tell Us?
It doesn’t really mean much that no insider has traded CNA Financial shares in the last quarter. We don’t take much encouragement from the transactions by CNA Financial insiders. But we do like the fact that insiders own a fair chunk of the company. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it’s also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. To assist with this, we’ve discovered 2 warning signs that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of CNA Financial.
But note: CNA Financial 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, but not derivative transactions.
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