Lamb Weston Holdings Insiders Sold US$6.6m Of Shares Suggesting Hesitancy

The fact that multiple Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) insiders offloaded a considerable amount of shares over the past year could have raised some eyebrows amongst investors. Knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more helpful when evaluating insider transactions, as insider selling can have various explanations. However, shareholders should take a deeper look if several insiders are selling stock over a specific time period.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Check out our latest analysis for Lamb Weston Holdings

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Lamb Weston Holdings

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the insider, Diane Dietz, for US$4.6m worth of shares, at about US$62.70 per share. So we know that an insider sold shares at around the present share price of US$58.46. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. Given that the sale took place at around current prices, it makes us a little cautious but is hardly a major concern.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$2.0m for 34.20k shares. But they sold 105.77k shares for US$6.6m. All up, insiders sold more shares in Lamb Weston Holdings than they bought, over the last year. 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 Lamb Weston Holdings 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.

Insiders At Lamb Weston Holdings Have Bought Stock Recently

It's good to see that Lamb Weston Holdings insiders have made notable investments in the company's shares. Overall, four insiders shelled out US$1.2m for shares in the company -- and none sold. This makes one think the business has some good points.

Insider Ownership Of Lamb Weston Holdings

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that Lamb Weston Holdings insiders own 0.7% of the company, worth about US$59m. 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 Lamb Weston Holdings Insider Transactions Indicate?

It is good to see recent purchasing. On the other hand the transaction history, over the last year, isn't so positive. We don't take much heart from transactions by Lamb Weston Holdings insiders over the last year. But they own a reasonable amount of the company, and there was some buying recently. 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. For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for Lamb Weston Holdings (1 is significant) you should be aware of.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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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