Possible Bearish Signals With Greggs Insiders Disposing Stock

Many Greggs plc (LON:GRG) insiders ditched their stock over the past year, which may be of interest to the company's shareholders. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more beneficial than knowing whether they are selling, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, when multiple insiders sell stock over a specific duration, shareholders should take notice as that could possibly be a red flag.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

View our latest analysis for Greggs

Greggs Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The CFO & Executive Director, Richard Hutton, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for UK£1.9m worth of shares at a price of UK£28.51 each. So what is clear is that an insider saw fit to sell at around the current price of UK£26.54. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. In this case, the big sale took place at around the current price, so it's not too bad (but it's still not a positive).

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid UK£242k for 8.74k shares. On the other hand they divested 98.46k shares, for UK£2.8m. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Greggs shares, than buying. 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!

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Insiders At Greggs Have Sold Stock Recently

We've seen more insider selling than insider buying at Greggs recently. We note CFO & Executive Director Richard Hutton cashed in UK£1.9m worth of shares. Meanwhile CEO & Executive Director Roisin Currie bought UK£404 worth. The share price has moved a bit recently, but it's hard to argue that the selling is a positive.

Insider Ownership Of Greggs

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Based on our data, Greggs insiders have about 0.09% of the stock, worth approximately UK£2.5m. We prefer to see high levels of insider ownership.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Greggs Tell Us?

Unfortunately, there has been more insider selling of Greggs stock, than buying, in the last three months. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. But it is good to see that Greggs is growing earnings. 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! In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Greggs. To assist with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Greggs.

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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.