Insiders Who Sold US$839k Of Clean Energy Fuels Made The Right Call

While it’s been a great week for Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ:CLNE) shareholders after stock gained 10%, they should consider it with a grain of salt. Although prices were relatively low, insiders chose to sell US$839k worth of stock in the past 12 months. This could be a sign of impending weakness.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

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Clean Energy Fuels Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Co-Founder, Andrew Littlefair, for US$563k worth of shares, at about US$2.25 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$2.65. 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. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. We note that the biggest single sale was only 18% of Andrew Littlefair's holding.

In total, Clean Energy Fuels insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

Check out our latest analysis for Clean Energy Fuels

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Clean Energy Fuels Insiders Are Selling The Stock

The last quarter saw substantial insider selling of Clean Energy Fuels shares. In total, insiders sold US$839k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. Overall this makes us a bit cautious, but it's not the be all and end all.

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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Clean Energy Fuels insiders own about US$11m worth of shares. That equates to 1.8% 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.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Clean Energy Fuels Insiders?

Insiders sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. 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. While conducting our analysis, we found that Clean Energy Fuels has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore them.

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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.