Trade Alert: Independent Chairman Of Empire James Dickson Has Sold Stock

We'd be surprised if Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) shareholders haven't noticed that the Independent Chairman, James Dickson, recently sold CA$534k worth of stock at CA$34.48 per share. The eyebrow raising move amounted to a reduction of 41% in their holding.

See our latest analysis for Empire

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Empire

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Chief Operating Officer, Pierre St-Laurent, sold CA$718k worth of shares at a price of CA$38.55 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 CA$34.97. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid CA$563k for 16.38k shares. But insiders sold 76.70k shares worth CA$2.8m. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Empire shares, than buying. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by 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. It's great to see that Empire insiders own 13% of the company, worth about CA$1.1b. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Empire Insiders?

Unfortunately, there has been more insider selling of Empire stock, than buying, in the last three months. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. On the plus side, Empire makes money, and is growing profits. While insiders do own a lot of shares in the company (which is good), our analysis of their transactions doesn't make us feel confident about the company. While it's good to be aware of 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. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for Empire and we suggest you have a look.

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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 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com