Have Insiders Sold Southern Missouri Bancorp Shares Recently?

Some Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBC) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Director, William Young, recently sold a substantial US$626k worth of stock at a price of US$41.76 per share. However, it's crucial to note that they remain very much invested in the stock and that sale only reduced their holding by 5.0%.

Check out our latest analysis for Southern Missouri Bancorp

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Southern Missouri Bancorp

Notably, that recent sale by William Young is the biggest insider sale of Southern Missouri 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$40.65. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. We note that this sale took place at around the current price, so it isn't a major concern, though it's hardly a good sign.

Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Southern Missouri 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!

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Does Southern Missouri Bancorp Boast High Insider Ownership?

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Southern Missouri Bancorp insiders own about US$79m worth of shares. That equates to 17% of the company. 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 Does This Data Suggest About Southern Missouri Bancorp Insiders?

An insider hasn't bought Southern Missouri Bancorp stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. But it is good to see that Southern Missouri Bancorp is growing earnings. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. While it's good to be aware of what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. When we did our research, we found 2 warning signs for Southern Missouri Bancorp (1 is significant!) that we believe deserve your full attention.

But note: Southern Missouri 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.

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