Have goeasy Insiders Been Selling Stock?

We wouldn't blame goeasy Ltd. (TSE:GSY) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Jason Mullins, the President recently netted about CA$1.9m selling shares at an average price of CA$185. That's a big disposal, and it decreased their holding size by 14%, which is notable but not too bad.

See our latest analysis for goeasy

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At goeasy

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Executive Chairman, David Ingram, sold CA$4.7m worth of shares at a price of CA$158 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of CA$186. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. 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. We note that the biggest single sale was only 7.7% of David Ingram's holding. Notably David Ingram was also the biggest buyer, having purchased CA$70k worth of shares.

All up, insiders sold more shares in goeasy than they bought, over the last year. 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!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).

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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. goeasy insiders own about CA$669m worth of shares (which is 22% of the company). I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About goeasy Insiders?

Insiders sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. On the plus side, goeasy makes money, and is growing profits. It is good to see high insider ownership, but the insider selling leaves us cautious. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing goeasy. To help with this, we've discovered 4 warning signs (2 shouldn't be ignored!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in goeasy.

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.