Insiders Who Sold €5.7m Of Irish Continental Group Made The Right Call

Despite a 14% gain in Irish Continental Group plc's (LON:ICGC) stock price this week, shareholders shouldn't let up. Although prices were relatively low, insiders chose to sell €5.7m worth of stock in the past 12 months. This could be a sign of impending weakness.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

See our latest analysis for Irish Continental Group

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Irish Continental Group

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when MD, CEO & Executive Director Eamonn Rothwell bought UK£5.5m worth of shares at a price of UK£4.63 per share. Even though the purchase was made at a significantly lower price than the recent price (UK£5.40), we still think insider buying is a positive. Because the shares were purchased at a lower price, this particular buy doesn't tell us much about how insiders feel about the current share price.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 1.22m shares worth UK£5.6m. On the other hand they divested 1.24m shares, for UK£5.7m. All up, insiders sold more shares in Irish Continental Group 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 click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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Have Irish Continental Group Insiders Traded Recently?

We saw MD, CEO & Executive Director Eamonn Rothwell buy shares worth UK£5.5m in the last three months. However that only slightly eclipses the sales, UK£5.5m worth of sales. Overall, we don't think these recent trades are particularly informative, one way or the other.

Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Irish Continental Group insiders own 20% of the company, currently worth about UK£174m based on the recent share price. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Irish Continental Group Tell Us?

We note a that there has been a bit of insider buying recently (but no selling). That said, the purchases were not large. It's heartening that insiders own plenty of stock, but we'd like to see more insider buying, since the last year of Irish Continental Group insider transactions don't fill us with confidence. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Irish Continental Group. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for Irish Continental Group you should be aware of.

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.

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