Don't Ignore The Insider Selling In Peoples Bancorp

Anyone interested in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) should probably be aware that the President, Tyler Wilcox, recently divested US$250k worth of shares in the company, at an average price of US$29.01 each. The eyebrow raising move amounted to a reduction of 18% in their holding.

See our latest analysis for Peoples Bancorp

Peoples Bancorp Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent sale by Tyler Wilcox is the biggest insider sale of Peoples Bancorp shares that we've seen in the last year. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$30.00). As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. This single sale was just 18% of Tyler Wilcox's stake.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$261k for 10.20k shares. On the other hand they divested 11.32k shares, for US$333k. All up, insiders sold more shares in Peoples Bancorp 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. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

I will like Peoples Bancorp better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Does Peoples 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. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Insiders own 3.8% of Peoples Bancorp shares, worth about US$40m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Do The Peoples Bancorp Insider Transactions Indicate?

Unfortunately, there has been more insider selling of Peoples Bancorp stock, than buying, in the last three months. Despite some insider buying, the longer term picture doesn't make us feel much more positive. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for Peoples Bancorp and we suggest you have a look.

But note: Peoples Bancorp may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE 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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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.