Possible Bearish Signals With Avista Insiders Disposing Stock

Over the past year, many Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) insiders sold a significant stake in the company which may have piqued investors' interest. Knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more helpful when evaluating insider transactions, as insider selling can have various explanations. However, shareholders should take a deeper look if several insiders are selling stock over a specific time period.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

View our latest analysis for Avista

Avista Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The insider, Mark Thies, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$1.9m worth of shares at a price of US$41.45 each. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. It's of some comfort that this sale was conducted at a price well above the current share price, which is US$35.58. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 4.36k shares worth US$151k. On the other hand they divested 56.24k shares, for US$2.3m. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Avista shares, than buying. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

I will like Avista better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Insider Ownership Of Avista

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Avista insiders own about US$25m worth of shares. That equates to 0.9% of the company. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

So What Do The Avista Insider Transactions Indicate?

The fact that there have been no Avista insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. Still, the insider transactions at Avista in the last 12 months are not very heartening. But it's good to see that insiders own shares in the company. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Avista. Be aware that Avista is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those can't be ignored...

Of course Avista 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.