Insider Traders Lose US$211k As Container Store Group Drops

Insiders who acquired US$400.5k worth of The Container Store Group, Inc.'s (NYSE:TCS) stock at an average price of US$2.38 in the past 12 months may be dismayed by the recent 10% price decline. Insiders purchase with the hope of seeing their investments increase in value over time. However, due to recent losses, their initial investment is now only worth US$190.0k, which is not great.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

See our latest analysis for Container Store Group

Container Store Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by CEO, President & Director Satish Malhotra for US$76k worth of shares, at about US$2.61 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of US$1.13. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when insiders have purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price.

In the last twelve months Container Store Group insiders were buying shares, but not selling. 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!

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

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. From looking at our data, insiders own US$2.8m worth of Container Store Group stock, about 4.7% of the company. We prefer to see high levels of insider ownership.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Container Store Group Tell Us?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Container Store Group shares in the last quarter. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. While we have no worries about the insider transactions, we'd be more comfortable if they owned more Container Store Group stock. 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. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for Container Store Group you should be aware of, and 2 of them are concerning.

Of course Container Store Group 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.