The Independent Director of Enviva Inc. (NYSE:EVA), Gerrit Lansing, Just Bought 31% More Shares

Even if it's not a huge purchase, we think it was good to see that Gerrit Lansing, the Independent Director of Enviva Inc. (NYSE:EVA) recently shelled out US$55k to buy stock, at US$27.38 per share. That purchase might not be huge but it did increase their holding by 31%.

View our latest analysis for Enviva

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Enviva

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the insider, John Keppler, for US$11m worth of shares, at about US$55.00 per share. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$28.37). So it may not shed much light on insider confidence at current levels. John Keppler was the only individual insider to sell over the last year. Notably John Keppler was also the biggest buyer, having purchased US$5.1m worth of shares.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 89.93k shares for US$5.1m. But insiders sold 200.00k shares worth US$11m. 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!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Does Enviva Boast High 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. Insiders own 4.4% of Enviva shares, worth about US$92m. 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 Enviva Tell Us?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchase. However, the longer term transactions are not so encouraging. While recent transactions indicate confidence in Enviva, insiders don't own enough of the company to overcome our cautiousness about the longer term transactions. Overall they seem reasonably aligned. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Enviva (including 1 which is a bit unpleasant).

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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, but not derivative transactions.

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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.