Many National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) insiders ditched their stock over the past year, which may be of interest to the company's shareholders. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more beneficial than knowing whether they are selling, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, when multiple insiders sell stock over a specific duration, shareholders should take notice as that could possibly be a red flag.
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.
We've discovered 2 warning signs about National Fuel Gas. View them for free.National Fuel Gas Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
The President of National Fuel Gas Midstream Company, Justin Loweth, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$1.1m worth of shares at a price of US$62.27 each. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$76.78. 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. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. We note that the biggest single sale was only 24% of Justin Loweth's holding.
In the last year National Fuel Gas insiders didn't buy any company stock. 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!
View our latest analysis for National Fuel Gas
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
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. National Fuel Gas insiders own about US$97m worth of shares. That equates to 1.4% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.
So What Do The National Fuel Gas Insider Transactions Indicate?
The fact that there have been no National Fuel Gas insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. Still, the insider transactions at National Fuel Gas in the last 12 months are not very heartening. But we do like the fact that insiders own a fair chunk of the company. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for National Fuel Gas (1 can't be ignored) you should be aware of.
Of course National Fuel Gas 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.