Have Insiders Been Selling The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Shares?

Simply Wall St - finance.yahoo.com Posted 5 years ago
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We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG).

What Is Insider Selling?

It's quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.

We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. 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 Scotts Miracle-Gro

Scotts Miracle-Gro Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by Chairman & CEO James Hagedorn for US$1.5m worth of shares, at about US$81.28 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at around the current price of US$78.19. 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.

All up, insiders sold more shares in Scotts Miracle-Gro than they bought, over the last year. The sellers received a price of around US$80.03, on average. We don't gain much confidence from insider selling near the recent share price. Since insiders sell for many reasons, we wouldn't put too much weight on it. You can see the insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

NYSE:SMG Recent Insider Trading, March 27th 2019
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I will like Scotts Miracle-Gro better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Insiders Are Selling The Stock

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro. In total, Vice-Chairman Katherine Littlefield dumped US$197k 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.

Does Scotts Miracle-Gro Boast High Insider Ownership?

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Scotts Miracle-Gro insiders own about US$32m worth of shares. That equates to 0.7% of the company. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Do The Scotts Miracle-Gro Insider Transactions Indicate?

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An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. Despite some insider buying, the longer term picture doesn't make us feel much more positive. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. We're in no rush to buy! If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

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.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at [email protected]. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.