Duke Energy Insiders Sold US$4.4m Of Shares Suggesting Hesitancy

Over the past year, many Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) insiders sold a significant stake in the company which may have piqued investors' interest. When analyzing insider transactions, it is usually more valuable to know whether insiders are buying versus knowing if they are selling, as the latter sends an ambiguous message. However, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

See our latest analysis for Duke Energy

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Duke Energy

The Chairman & CEO, Lynn Good, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$1.5m worth of shares at a price of US$103 each. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$117. When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent valuation. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. We note that the biggest single sale was only 2.9% of Lynn Good's holding.

Insiders in Duke Energy didn't buy any shares in the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

For those who like to find hidden gems this free list of small cap companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Duke Energy Insiders Are Selling The Stock

We have seen a bit of insider selling at Duke Energy, over the last three months. insider Louis Renjel sold just US$45k worth of shares in that time. It's not great to see insider selling, nor the lack of recent buyers. But the selling simply isn't sufficiently substantial to be of much use as a signal.

Does Duke Energy Boast High Insider Ownership?

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Duke Energy insiders own about US$124m worth of shares (which is 0.1% of the company). This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Duke Energy Tell Us?

While there has not been any insider buying in the last three months, there has been selling. But the sales were small, so we're not concerned. It's heartening that insiders own plenty of stock, but we'd like to see more insider buying, since the last year of Duke Energy insider transactions don't fill us with confidence. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. To help with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs (1 is significant!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in Duke Energy.

But note: Duke Energy 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 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.