BlueScope Steel Insider Lowered Holding By 11% During Last Year

From what we can see, insiders were net sellers in BlueScope Steel Limited's (ASX:BSL ) during the past 12 months. That is, insiders sold the stock in greater numbers than they purchased it.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

Check out our latest analysis for BlueScope Steel

BlueScope Steel Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the MD, CEO & Executive Director, Mark Vassella, for AU$2.4m worth of shares, at about AU$21.09 per share. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (AU$19.13). So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it. Mark Vassella was the only individual insider to sell over the last year.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 10.50k shares for AU$218k. But they sold 116.00k shares for AU$2.4m. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) 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!

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Insider Ownership Of BlueScope Steel

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. 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 0.3% of BlueScope Steel shares, worth about AU$28m. 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 BlueScope Steel Tell Us?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded BlueScope Steel shares in the last quarter. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by BlueScope Steel insiders. But it's good to see that insiders own shares in the company. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. At Simply Wall St, we found 1 warning sign for BlueScope Steel that deserve your attention before buying any shares.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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.