Have BankUnited Insiders Been Selling Stock?

We'd be surprised if BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) shareholders haven't noticed that the Chief Operating Officer, Thomas Cornish, recently sold US$421k worth of stock at US$39.11 per share. However, the silver lining is that the sale only reduced their total holding by 9.7%, so we're hesitant to read anything much into it, on its own.

See our latest analysis for BankUnited

BankUnited Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent sale by Thomas Cornish is the biggest insider sale of BankUnited shares that we've seen in the last year. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$40.30, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent valuation. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. We note that the biggest single sale was only 9.7% of Thomas Cornish's holding.

BankUnited insiders didn't buy any shares 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!

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Does BankUnited Boast High Insider Ownership?

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. BankUnited insiders own about US$30m worth of shares. That equates to 1.0% 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 BankUnited Insiders?

An insider hasn't bought BankUnited stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. 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. In terms of investment risks, we've identified 1 warning sign with BankUnited and understanding it should be part of your investment process.

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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.