Have Insiders Sold Ryerson Holding Shares Recently?

Anyone interested in Ryerson Holding Corporation (NYSE:RYI) should probably be aware that the Corporate Controller & Chief Accounting Officer, Molly Kannan, recently divested US$113k worth of shares in the company, at an average price of US$26.05 each. The eyebrow raising move amounted to a reduction of 21% in their holding.

See our latest analysis for Ryerson Holding

Ryerson Holding Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the insider, Alagu Sundarrajan, sold US$327k worth of shares at a price of US$32.97 per share. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$24.45. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$145k for 6.13k shares. But they sold 25.34k shares for US$785k. In total, Ryerson Holding insiders sold more 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. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

For those who like to find hidden gems this free list of small cap companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Does Ryerson Holding Boast High Insider Ownership?

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that Ryerson Holding insiders own 4.0% of the company, worth about US$32m. 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 Does This Data Suggest About Ryerson Holding Insiders?

An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. 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. Our analysis shows 4 warning signs for Ryerson Holding (1 doesn't sit too well with us!) and we strongly recommend you look at them before investing.

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.