Don't Ignore The Insider Selling In Granite Point Mortgage Trust

We'd be surprised if Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc. (NYSE:GPMT) shareholders haven't noticed that the Independent Chairman of the Board, Stephen Kasnet, recently sold US$121k worth of stock at US$2.69 per share. That sale was 24% of their holding, so it does make us raise an eyebrow.

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Granite Point Mortgage Trust Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent sale by Stephen Kasnet was the biggest sale of Granite Point Mortgage Trust shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$2.75, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. 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. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. We note that the biggest single sale was only 24% of Stephen Kasnet's holding.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 122.00k shares worth US$308k. But they sold 64.67k shares for US$174k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Granite Point Mortgage Trust insiders. The average buy price was around US$2.53. It's great to see insiders putting their own cash into the company's stock, albeit at below the recent share price. 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!

View our latest analysis for Granite Point Mortgage Trust

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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. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Our data indicates that Granite Point Mortgage Trust insiders own about US$6.8m worth of shares (which is 5.3% of the company). Overall, this level of ownership isn't that impressive, but it's certainly better than nothing!

So What Does This Data Suggest About Granite Point Mortgage Trust Insiders?

Insiders haven't bought Granite Point Mortgage Trust stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. In contrast, they appear keener if you look at the last twelve months. But we'd like it if insiders owned more stock, overall. So overall it's hard to argue insiders are bullish. 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. At Simply Wall St, we've found that Granite Point Mortgage Trust has 4 warning signs (2 are a bit concerning!) that deserve your attention before going any further with your analysis.

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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.