Par Pacific Holdings Repeat Insider Selling Not A Positive Indicator

Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PARR) shareholders might have a reason to worry after multiple insiders sold their shares over the last year. When analyzing insider transactions, it is usually more valuable to know whether insiders are buying versus knowing if they are selling, as the latter sends an ambiguous message. However, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

View our latest analysis for Par Pacific Holdings

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Par Pacific Holdings

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the VP, Chief Accounting Officer & Controller, Ivan Guerra, for US$225k worth of shares, at about US$37.49 per share. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$15.39. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.

In the last year Par Pacific Holdings insiders didn't buy any company stock. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

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

Insider Ownership Of Par Pacific Holdings

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 2.7% of Par Pacific Holdings shares, worth about US$25m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Do The Par Pacific Holdings Insider Transactions Indicate?

The fact that there have been no Par Pacific Holdings insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. Our analysis of Par Pacific Holdings insider transactions leaves us cautious. But we do like the fact that insiders own a fair chunk of the company. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Par Pacific Holdings. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Par Pacific Holdings (including 2 which are significant).

Of course Par Pacific Holdings may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

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.