Some Acuity Inc. (NYSE:AYI) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Senior VP & General Counsel, Barry Goldman, recently sold a substantial US$1.2m worth of stock at a price of US$321 per share. Probably the most concerning element of the whole transaction is that the disposal amounted to 52% of their entire holding.
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Acuity
In fact, the recent sale by Barry Goldman was the biggest sale of Acuity shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. So we know that an insider sold shares at around the present share price of US$317. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. Given that the sale took place at around current prices, it makes us a little cautious but is hardly a major concern.
Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 1.27k shares worth US$363k. But they sold 7.00k shares for US$2.3m. All up, insiders sold more shares in Acuity than they bought, over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!
Check out our latest analysis for Acuity
If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).
Does Acuity 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. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Acuity insiders own about US$41m worth of shares. That equates to 0.4% 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 Does This Data Suggest About Acuity Insiders?
The insider sales have outweighed the insider buying, at Acuity, in the last three months. Despite some insider buying, the longer term picture doesn't make us feel much more positive. But since Acuity is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. 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 assist with this, we've discovered 1 warning sign that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Acuity.
If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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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