Yahoo Finance Have Insiders Been Selling Genworth MI Canada Inc. (TSE:MIC) Shares?
We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Genworth MI Canada Inc. (TSE:MIC).
Do Insider Transactions Matter?
It’s quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required.
We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares. For example, a Harvard University study found that ‘insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year.’
Check out our latest analysis for Genworth MI Canada
Genworth MI Canada Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by President Stuart Levings for CA$676k worth of shares, at about CA$44.50 per share. So what is clear is that an insider saw fit to sell at around the current price of CA$38.75. They could have a variety of motivations for selling, but it’s still not particularly encouraging to see. We usually pause to reflect on the potential that a stock has a high valuation, if insiders have been selling at around the current price. Notably Stuart Levings was also the biggest buyer, having purchased CA$316k worth of shares.
Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid CA$316k for 7.90k shares. On the other hand they divested 41.55k shares, for CA$1.8m. All up, insiders sold more shares in Genworth MI Canada than they bought, over the last year. The average sell price was around CA$44.51. We don’t gain much confidence from insider selling near the recent share price. While some insiders have decided to take some money off the table, we wouldn’t put too much weight on this fact. The chart below shows insider transactions 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!
If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).
Genworth MI Canada Insiders Are Selling The Stock
The last three months saw significant insider selling at Genworth MI Canada. Specifically, insiders ditched CA$1.7m 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 directors think that the shares are a bargain.
Insider Ownership of Genworth MI Canada
For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It’s great to see that Genworth MI Canada insiders own 0.2% of the company, worth about CA$7.7m. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.
So What Does This Data Suggest About Genworth MI Canada Insiders?
Insiders haven’t bought Genworth MI Canada stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn’t give us much comfort. When you combine this with the relatively low insider ownership, we are very cautious about the stock. So we’re not rushing to buy, to say the least. Of course, the future is what matters most. So if you are interested in Genworth MI Canada, you should check out this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
But note: Genworth MI Canada 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.
To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.