Yahoo Finance Hershey Insiders Sell US$2.6m Of Stock, Possibly Signalling Caution
In the last year, many The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) insiders sold a substantial stake in the company which may have sparked shareholders' attention. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying versus if they selling is usually more beneficial, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, shareholders should take a deeper look if several insiders are selling stock over a specific time period.
Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.
Check out our latest analysis for Hershey
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Hershey
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Chairman, Michele Buck, for US$2.6m worth of shares, at about US$260 per share. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$200). So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.
Hershey 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 click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!
For those who like to find hidden gems this free list of small cap companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
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. Hershey insiders own about US$82m worth of shares. That equates to 0.2% 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.
What Might The Insider Transactions At Hershey Tell Us?
There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by Hershey insiders. But we do like the fact that insiders own a fair chunk of the company. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Hershey. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for Hershey and we suggest you have a look.
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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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.
