Porvair Group Chief Executive & Executive Director Ben D. Stocks Sells 53% Of Holding

We wouldn't blame Porvair plc (LON:PRV) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Ben D. Stocks, the Group Chief Executive & Executive Director recently netted about UK£1.5m selling shares at an average price of UK£6.76. That diminished their holding by a very significant 53%, which arguably implies a strong desire to reallocate capital.

See our latest analysis for Porvair

Porvair Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent sale by Ben D. Stocks was the biggest sale of Porvair shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that an insider was selling shares at around the current price of UK£6.62. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. Given that the sale took place at around current prices, it makes us a little cautious but is hardly a major concern.

Ben D. Stocks divested 340.14k shares over the last 12 months at an average price of UK£6.67. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

I will like Porvair better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

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. From looking at our data, insiders own UK£2.9m worth of Porvair stock, about 0.9% of the company. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. We prefer to see high levels of insider ownership.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Porvair Insiders?

An insider sold Porvair shares recently, but they didn't buy any. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. When you consider that most companies have higher levels of insider ownership, we're a little wary. We'd certainly practice some caution before buying! So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. While conducting our analysis, we found that Porvair has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore this.

But note: Porvair 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.

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