We note that a Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Incorporated (NYSE:RBA) insider, Kieran Holm, recently sold US$87k worth of stock for US$41.01 per share. It might not be a huge sale, but it did reduce their holding size 12%, hardly encouraging.
View our latest analysis for Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers
Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the insider, Todd Wohler, sold US$97k worth of shares at a price of US$39.80 per share. So it’s clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even slightly below the current price of US$40.40. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can’t be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it’s only a weak sign. This single sale was just 20% of Todd Wohler’s stake.
In the last year Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers insiders didn’t buy any company stock. You can see the insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
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Does Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Boast High 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. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Our data indicates that Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers insiders own about US$6.5m worth of shares (which is 0.1% of the company). Overall, this level of ownership isn’t that impressive, but it’s certainly better than nothing!
So What Does This Data Suggest About Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Insiders?
An insider sold stock recently, but they haven’t been buying. And even if we look at the last year, we didn’t see any purchases. But it is good to see that Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers is growing earnings. When you combine this with the relatively low insider ownership, we are very cautious about the stock. As the saying goes, only fools rush in. While we like knowing 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. In terms of investment risks, we’ve identified 2 warning signs with Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers and understanding these should be part of your investment process.
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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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