Pilgrim's Pride Insiders Sold US$4.5m Of Shares Suggesting Hesitancy

The fact that multiple Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) insiders offloaded a considerable amount of shares over the past year could have raised some eyebrows amongst investors. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more beneficial than knowing whether they are selling, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, shareholders should take a deeper look if several insiders are selling stock over a specific time period.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

See our latest analysis for Pilgrim's Pride

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Pilgrim's Pride

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the President & CEO, Fabio Sandri, sold US$2.9m worth of shares at a price of US$44.50 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$50.73, 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. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. We note that the biggest single sale was 71% of Fabio Sandri's holding.

Insiders in Pilgrim's Pride didn't buy any shares in the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, 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: Most of them are flying under the radar).

Insider Ownership Of Pilgrim's Pride

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Insiders own 0.04% of Pilgrim's Pride shares, worth about US$5.3m, according to our data. We do generally prefer see higher levels of insider ownership.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Pilgrim's Pride Tell Us?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by Pilgrim's Pride insiders. And usually insiders own more stock in the company, according to our data. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Pilgrim's Pride. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for Pilgrim's Pride and we suggest you have a look.

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 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.