Read This Before Selling Premier Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:PFC) Shares

It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So we'll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Premier Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:PFC).

What Is Insider Selling?

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.

Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. 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'.

See our latest analysis for Premier Financial

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Premier Financial

The CFO & Executive VP Paul Nungester made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$273k worth of shares at a price of US$18.23 each. We do like to see buying, but this purchase was made at well below the current price of US$27.76. While it does suggest insiders consider the stock undervalued at lower prices, this transaction doesn't tell us much about what they think of current prices.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 32.00k shares for US$589k. On the other hand they divested 5.60k shares, for US$133k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Premier Financial insiders. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

Premier Financial is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insiders at Premier Financial Have Sold Stock Recently

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider selling at Premier Financial. In total, insiders dumped US$105k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. Overall this makes us a bit cautious, but it's not the be all and end all.

Insider Ownership of Premier Financial

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that Premier Financial insiders own 2.2% of the company, worth about US$23m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Premier Financial Insiders?

Insiders haven't bought Premier Financial stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. But we take heart from prior transactions. We like that insiders own a fair amount of the company. So the recent selling doesn't worry us too much. 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. When we did our research, we found 5 warning signs for Premier Financial (1 can't be ignored!) that we believe deserve your full attention.

But note: Premier Financial 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, but not derivative transactions.

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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. 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.
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