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

Over the past year, many Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) insiders sold a significant stake in the company which may have piqued investors' interest. 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, when multiple insiders sell stock over a specific duration, shareholders should take notice as that could possibly be a red flag.

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.

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Lamb Weston Holdings Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

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. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. It's of some comfort that this sale was conducted at a price well above the current share price, which is US$53.36. So it may not shed much light on insider confidence at current levels.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$2.2m for 37.19k shares. But insiders sold 105.77k shares worth US$6.6m. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Lamb Weston Holdings shares, than buying. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

View our latest analysis for Lamb Weston Holdings

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Lamb Weston Holdings Insiders Bought Stock Recently

We saw some Lamb Weston Holdings insider buying shares in the last three months. insider Ari Gendason purchased US$20k worth of shares in that period. It's good to see the insider buying, as well as the lack of recent sellers. However, in this case the amount invested recently is quite small.

Insider Ownership

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. It appears that Lamb Weston Holdings insiders own 0.7% of the company, worth about US$54m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Lamb Weston Holdings Insiders?

We note a that there has been a bit of insider buying recently (but no selling). The net investment is not enough to encourage us much. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by Lamb Weston Holdings insiders. The modest level of insider ownership is, at least, some comfort. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. Our analysis shows 4 warning signs for Lamb Weston Holdings (1 is concerning!) and we strongly recommend you look at them before investing.

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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.