Read This Before Buying Getty Realty Corp. (NYSE:GTY) Shares

We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So we'll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Getty Realty Corp. (NYSE:GTY).

What Is Insider Buying?

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.

We don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. 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'.

View our latest analysis for Getty Realty

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Getty Realty

The Co-Founder & Non-Executive Chairman, Leo Liebowitz, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$3.1m worth of shares at a price of US$20.20 each. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$28.12). We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. We note that the biggest single sale was only 6.0% of Leo Liebowitz's holding. Leo Liebowitz was the only individual insider to sell shares in the last twelve months.

Leo Liebowitz sold a total of 408.05k shares over the year at an average price of US$24.55. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

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

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Getty Realty insiders own about US$97m worth of shares. That equates to 8.0% of the company. 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 Getty Realty Insiders?

The fact that there have been no Getty Realty insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. Still, the insider transactions at Getty Realty in the last 12 months are not very heartening. But we do like the fact that insiders own a fair chunk of the company. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. For example, Getty Realty has 3 warning signs (and 1 which shouldn't be ignored) we think you should know about.

But note: Getty Realty may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

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, but not derivative transactions.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.
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