Insiders At Horace Mann Educators Sold US$1.4m In Stock, Alluding To Potential Weakness

In the last year, many Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN) insiders sold a substantial stake in the company which may have sparked shareholders' attention. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying versus if they selling is usually more beneficial, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Check out our latest analysis for Horace Mann Educators

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Horace Mann Educators

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the President, Marita Zuraitis, sold US$800k worth of shares at a price of US$37.02 per share. So what is clear is that an insider saw fit to sell at around the current price of US$36.99. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. Given that the sale took place at around current prices, it makes us a little cautious but is hardly a major concern.

In total, Horace Mann Educators insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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Horace Mann Educators Insiders Are Selling The Stock

Over the last three months, we've seen notably more insider selling, than insider buying, at Horace Mann Educators. We note insiders cashed in US$1.4m worth of shares. Meanwhile Independent Director Victor Fetter bought US$133k worth. Generally this level of net selling might be considered a bit bearish.

Insider Ownership Of Horace Mann Educators

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. Insiders own 0.4% of Horace Mann Educators shares, worth about US$6.7m, according to our data. Overall, this level of ownership isn't that impressive, but it's certainly better than nothing!

So What Do The Horace Mann Educators Insider Transactions Indicate?

The stark truth for Horace Mann Educators is that there has been more insider selling than insider buying in the last three months. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. But since Horace Mann Educators is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. When you consider that most companies have higher levels of insider ownership, we're a little wary. So we'd only buy after very careful consideration. 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. When we did our research, we found 3 warning signs for Horace Mann Educators (1 doesn't sit too well with us!) that we believe deserve your full attention.

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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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.