14% Of This CSR Insider's Holdings Were Sold

Looking at CSR Limited's (ASX:CSR ) insider transactions over the last year, we can see that insiders were net sellers. That is, there were more number of shares sold by insiders than there were purchased.

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.

View our latest analysis for CSR

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At CSR

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the CEO, MD & Executive Director, Julie Coates, sold AU$556k worth of shares at a price of AU$5.09 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of AU$6.96, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. 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. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. This single sale was just 14% of Julie Coates's stake. Julie Coates was the only individual insider to sell shares in the last twelve months.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid AU$220k for 41.35k shares. But they sold 110.00k shares for AU$556k. 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!

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Insiders At CSR Have Bought Stock Recently

We saw some CSR insider buying shares in the last three months. Insiders bought AU$60k worth of shares in that time. It's great to see that insiders are only buying, not selling. But the amount invested in the last three months isn't enough for us too put much weight on it, as a single factor.

Insider Ownership Of CSR

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. CSR insiders own about AU$18m worth of shares. That equates to 0.5% of the company. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

So What Do The CSR Insider Transactions Indicate?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchases. However, the longer term transactions are not so encouraging. While recent transactions indicate confidence in CSR, insiders don't own enough of the company to overcome our cautiousness about the longer term transactions. In short they are likely aligned with shareholders. 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. For example - CSR has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

But note: CSR 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.