Executive VP George Makris Sold A Bunch Of Shares In Simmons First National

We'd be surprised if Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) shareholders haven't noticed that the Executive VP, George Makris, recently sold US$269k worth of stock at US$17.23 per share. The eyebrow raising move amounted to a reduction of 27% in their holding.

Check out our latest analysis for Simmons First National

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Simmons First National

The insider, Dean Bass, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$593k worth of shares at a price of US$19.78 each. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. It's of some comfort that this sale was conducted at a price well above the current share price, which is US$17.98. So it may not shed much light on insider confidence at current levels.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 30.50k shares for US$449k. On the other hand they divested 45.63k shares, for US$863k. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Simmons First National 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!

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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. It appears that Simmons First National insiders own 1.7% of the company, worth about US$38m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Simmons First National Tell Us?

An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. We'd practice some caution before buying! So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. At Simply Wall St, we found 1 warning sign for Simmons First National that deserve your attention before buying any shares.

But note: Simmons First National 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.