Insiders At Kirby Sold US$6.0m In Stock, Alluding To Potential Weakness

Many Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) insiders ditched their stock over the past year, which may be of interest to the company's shareholders. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more beneficial than knowing whether they are selling, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, when multiple insiders sell stock over a specific duration, shareholders should take notice as that could possibly be a red flag.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

See our latest analysis for Kirby

Kirby Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Independent Director, William Waterman, sold US$1.1m worth of shares at a price of US$115 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$117. 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 11% of William Waterman's holding.

Insiders in Kirby didn't buy any shares in 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!

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Kirby Insiders Are Selling The Stock

The last quarter saw substantial insider selling of Kirby shares. Specifically, insiders ditched US$540k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. In light of this it's hard to argue that all the insiders think that the shares are a bargain.

Does Kirby Boast High Insider Ownership?

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Kirby insiders own about US$58m worth of shares. That equates to 0.8% 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.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Kirby Tell Us?

Insiders sold Kirby shares recently, but they didn't buy any. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. On the plus side, Kirby makes money, and is growing profits. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. We're in no rush to buy! 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. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for Kirby and we suggest you have a look.

Of course Kirby 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.