Have Hanover Bancorp Insiders Been Selling Stock?

Anyone interested in Hanover Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNVR) should probably be aware that the Independent Director, Michael Katz, recently divested US$128k worth of shares in the company, at an average price of US$25.53 each. On the bright side, that sale was only 2.0% of their holding, so we doubt it's very meaningful, on its own.

Check out our latest analysis for Hanover Bancorp

Hanover Bancorp Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent sale by Michael Katz is the biggest insider sale of Hanover Bancorp shares that we've seen in the last year. That means that an insider was selling shares at around the current price of US$25.09. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. Given that the sale took place at around current prices, it makes us a little cautious but is hardly a major concern.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 10.99k shares for US$190k. But insiders sold 7.50k shares worth US$191k. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Hanover Bancorp shares, than buying. 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!

I will like Hanover Bancorp 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.

Does Hanover Bancorp Boast High Insider Ownership?

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Hanover Bancorp insiders own about US$44m worth of shares. That equates to 24% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Hanover Bancorp Tell Us?

Unfortunately, there has been more insider selling of Hanover Bancorp stock, than buying, in the last three months. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Hanover Bancorp you should know about.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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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