More Money In The Bank For Kier Group Insiders Who Divested UK£714k

Despite a 10% gain in Kier Group plc's (LON:KIE) stock price this week, shareholders shouldn't let up. The fact that insiders chose to dispose of UK£714k worth of stock in the past 12 months even though prices were relatively low could be indicative of some anticipated weakness.

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.

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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Kier Group

The CFO & Executive Director, Simon Kesterton, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for UK£714k worth of shares at a price of UK£2.04 each. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of UK£2.30, 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. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. It is worth noting that this sale was only 15% of Simon Kesterton's holding. The only individual insider seller over the last year was Simon Kesterton.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 41.79k shares for UK£52k. On the other hand they divested 350.00k shares, for UK£714k. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

View our latest analysis for Kier Group

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Insiders At Kier Group Have Sold Stock Recently

The last three months saw significant insider selling at Kier Group. In total, CFO & Executive Director Simon Kesterton dumped UK£714k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. In light of this it's hard to argue that all the insiders think that the shares are a bargain.

Does Kier Group 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. Kier Group insiders own about UK£12m worth of shares. That equates to 1.2% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Kier Group Tell Us?

An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. But it is good to see that Kier Group is growing earnings. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. We're in no rush to buy! In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Kier Group. To assist with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Kier Group.

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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.