Itron Independent Director Mary Hemmingsen Sells 84% Of Holding

We wouldn't blame Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Mary Hemmingsen, the Independent Director recently netted about US$560k selling shares at an average price of US$109. Probably the most concerning element of the whole transaction is that the disposal amounted to 84% of their entire holding.

Our free stock report includes 1 warning sign investors should be aware of before investing in Itron. Read for free now.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Itron

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the CEO, President & Director, Thomas Deitrich, sold US$2.8m worth of shares at a price of US$97.28 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$109, 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. 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 8.8% of Thomas Deitrich's holding.

Itron 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 want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

See our latest analysis for Itron

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Does Itron 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 Itron insiders own 1.0% of the company, worth about US$52m. 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 Itron Insiders?

Insiders sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases. But since Itron is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. We're in no rush to buy! 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. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for Itron and we suggest you have a look.

Of course Itron 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.