This Insider Has Just Sold Shares In Ingredion

Some Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Senior VP and Chief Commercial & Sustainability Officer, Larry Fernandes, recently sold a substantial US$861k worth of stock at a price of US$141 per share. That sale reduced their total holding by 20% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.

View our latest analysis for Ingredion

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Ingredion

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the President, James Zallie, for US$6.4m worth of shares, at about US$117 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$142, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent 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 only 30% of James Zallie's holding.

In the last year Ingredion insiders didn't buy any company stock. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

I will like Ingredion better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Does Ingredion 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. It appears that Ingredion insiders own 0.5% of the company, worth about US$45m. 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 Ingredion Tell Us?

Insiders sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. But it is good to see that Ingredion is growing earnings. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. We're in no rush to buy! 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 Ingredion has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore this.

But note: Ingredion may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE 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.