Senior Vice President of Human Resources Of Century Aluminum Sold 36% Of Their Shares

We'd be surprised if Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) shareholders haven't noticed that the Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Kenneth Calloway, recently sold US$452k worth of stock at US$27.50 per share. The eyebrow raising move amounted to a reduction of 36% in their holding.

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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Century Aluminum

The President, Jesse Gary, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$1.5m worth of shares at a price of US$18.97 each. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$25.85, 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. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. We note that the biggest single sale was 99% of Jesse Gary's holding.

Century Aluminum insiders didn't buy any shares over 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!

See our latest analysis for Century Aluminum

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 Century Aluminum

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. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It appears that Century Aluminum insiders own 0.8% of the company, worth about US$19m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Century Aluminum Tell Us?

Insiders sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. We'd practice some caution before buying! 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. At Simply Wall St, we've found that Century Aluminum has 3 warning signs (1 is potentially serious!) that deserve your attention before going any further with your analysis.

Of course Century Aluminum may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality 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.