Shareholders May Not Overlook Alta Equipment Group Insiders Selling US$681k In Stock

Even though Alta Equipment Group Inc. (NYSE:ALTG) stock gained 11% last week, insiders who sold US$681k worth of stock over the past year are probably better off. Selling at an average price of US$11.44, which is higher than the current price might have been the right call as holding on to stock would have meant their investment would be worth less now than it was at the time of sale.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

View our latest analysis for Alta Equipment Group

Alta Equipment Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The CEO & Chairman, Ryan Greenawalt, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$397k worth of shares at a price of US$11.36 each. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$7.22. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 14.00k shares worth US$89k. But they sold 59.58k shares for US$681k. All up, insiders sold more shares in Alta Equipment Group than they bought, over the last year. The sellers received a price of around US$11.44, on average. It is certainly not great to see that insiders have sold shares in the company. But the selling was at much higher prices than the current share price (US$7.22), so it probably doesn't tell us a lot about the value on offer today. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of small cap stocks that are not only being bought by insiders but also have attractive valuations.

Does Alta Equipment Group Boast High Insider Ownership?

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Alta Equipment Group insiders own about US$45m worth of shares. That equates to 20% of the company. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Alta Equipment Group Tell Us?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Alta Equipment Group shares in the last quarter. Our analysis of Alta Equipment Group insider transactions leaves us cautious. But we do like the fact that insiders own a fair chunk of the company. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Alta Equipment Group you should be aware of.

But note: Alta Equipment Group 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.