We’ve lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So we’ll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Sealed Air Corporation (NYSE:SEE).
Do Insider Transactions Matter?
It’s quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.
Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. As Peter Lynch said, ‘insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise.’
See our latest analysis for Sealed Air
Sealed Air Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when Senior VP & Chief Supply Chain Officer Emile Chammas sold US$450k worth of shares at a price of US$45.03 per share. So we know that an insider sold shares at around the present share price of US$34.81. While their view may have changed since the sale, this is not a particularly positive fact. We generally tread carefully if insiders have been selling on market, even if they sold slightly above the current price.
Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$263k for 6.60k shares. But they sold 23.00k for US$1.0m. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Sealed Air shares, than buying. The average sell price was around US$45.41. It’s not particularly great to see insiders were selling shares around current prices (shares recently traded at US$34.81). Since insiders sell for many reasons, we wouldn’t put too much weight on it. The chart below shows insider transactions over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
Insider Ownership of Sealed Air
Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Insiders own 1.4% of Sealed Air shares, worth about US$80m. While this is strong but not in the top group, when it comes to insider ownership, it’s enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.
So What Do The Sealed Air Insider Transactions Indicate?
There haven’t been any insider transactions in the last three months — that doesn’t mean much. Our analysis of Sealed Air insider transactions leaves us unenthusiastic. We also note that, as far as we can see, insider ownership is fairly low, compared to other companies. Of course, the future is what matters most. So if you are interested in Sealed Air, you should check out this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.
To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.