It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. On the other hand, we’d be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So before you buy or sell Sheng Siong Group Ltd (SGX:OV8), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.
Do Insider Transactions Matter?
It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.
We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares. As Peter Lynch said, ‘insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise.’
View our latest analysis for Sheng Siong Group
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Sheng Siong Group
CEO & Executive Director Hock Lim made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for S$33m worth of shares at a price of S$1.01 each. So it’s clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of S$1.05. While their view may have changed since they sold, this isn’t a particularly bullish sign. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price. We note that the biggest single sale was only 19.4% of Hock Lim’s holding.
We note that in the last year insiders divested 99.00m shares for a total of S$100m. All up, insiders sold more shares in Sheng Siong Group than they bought, over the last year. They sold for an average price of about S$1.01. We don’t gain much confidence from insider selling near the recent share price. While some insiders have decided to take some money off the table, we wouldn’t put too much weight on this fact. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
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Insider Ownership of Sheng Siong Group
Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Sheng Siong Group insiders own about S$456m worth of shares (which is 29% of the company). Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.
So What Does This Data Suggest About Sheng Siong Group Insiders?
The fact that there have been no Sheng Siong Group insider transactions recently certainly doesn’t bother us. It’s heartening that insiders own plenty of stock, but we’d like to see more insider buying, since the last year of Sheng Siong Group insider transactions don’t fill us with confidence. Therefore, you should should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Sheng Siong Group.
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If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.