Executive Vice President & President of The Americas Brian Comstock Sold A Bunch Of Shares In Greenbrier Companies

We wouldn't blame The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE:GBX) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Brian Comstock, the Executive Vice President & President of The Americas recently netted about US$1.7m selling shares at an average price of US$66.23. That sale reduced their total holding by 41% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.

Check out our latest analysis for Greenbrier Companies

Greenbrier Companies Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent sale by Executive Vice President & President of The Americas Brian Comstock was not their only sale of Greenbrier Companies shares this year. Earlier in the year, they fetched US$61.46 per share in a -US$1.8m sale. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$66.54. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. This single sale was just 33% of Brian Comstock's stake.

In the last year Greenbrier Companies insiders didn't buy any company stock. 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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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. Greenbrier Companies insiders own about US$65m worth of shares. That equates to 3.1% of the company. 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 Do The Greenbrier Companies Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insiders sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. But since Greenbrier Companies is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. 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. To help with this, we've discovered 3 warning signs (1 is potentially serious!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in Greenbrier Companies.

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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.