Have Insiders Sold Insteel Industries Shares Recently?

We'd be surprised if Insteel Industries, Inc. (NYSE:IIIN) shareholders haven't noticed that the Senior VP & COO, Richard Wagner, recently sold US$168k worth of stock at US$38.42 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.

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Insteel Industries Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent sale by Richard Wagner is the biggest insider sale of Insteel Industries shares that we've seen in the last year. That means that even when the share price was slightly below the current price of US$38.81, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. 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 Richard Wagner's holding.

Richard Wagner sold a total of 4.38k shares over the year at an average price of US$38.39. 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!

See our latest analysis for Insteel Industries

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Insider Ownership Of Insteel Industries

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that Insteel Industries insiders own 4.2% of the company, worth about US$31m. 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 Does This Data Suggest About Insteel Industries Insiders?

An insider sold Insteel Industries shares recently, but they didn't buy any. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. But since Insteel Industries is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. We'd practice some caution before buying! In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Insteel Industries. At Simply Wall St, we found 2 warning signs for Insteel Industries that deserve your attention before buying any shares.

But note: Insteel Industries 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.