Cranswick Executive Director & COO Christopher Aldersley Sells 36% Of Holding

We wouldn't blame Cranswick plc (LON:CWK) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Christopher Aldersley, the Executive Director & COO recently netted about UK£810k selling shares at an average price of UK£49.10. That sale reduced their total holding by 36% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.

Check out our latest analysis for Cranswick

Cranswick Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the CEO & Executive Director, Adam Couch, sold UK£1.2m worth of shares at a price of UK£47.57 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of UK£50.50, 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. 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. This single sale was just 11% of Adam Couch's stake.

All up, insiders sold more shares in Cranswick than they bought, over the last year. 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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Does Cranswick 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. 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 appears that Cranswick insiders own 0.8% of the company, worth about UK£22m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Cranswick Insiders?

The stark truth for Cranswick is that there has been more insider selling than insider buying in the last three months. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. But since Cranswick is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. We'd 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 Cranswick has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore this.

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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.