Should You Be Worried About Insider Transactions At Marine Products Corporation (NYSE:MPX)?

Chris Amalia - finance.yahoo.com Posted 5 years ago
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We’ve lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So before you buy or sell Marine Products Corporation (NYSE:MPX), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.

What Is Insider Selling?

It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required.

We don’t think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. 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.’

See our latest analysis for Marine Products

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Marine Products

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when VP, CFO Ben Palmer sold US$117k worth of shares at a price of US$16.40 per share. So we know that an insider sold shares at around the present share price of US$14.20. They might be selling for a variety of reasons, but it’s hard to argue this is a bullish sign. We generally tread carefully if insiders have been selling on market, even if they sold slightly above the current price. The only individual insider seller over the last year was Ben Palmer.

Ben Palmer ditched 15.00k shares over the year. The average price per share was US$16.30. The chart below shows insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

NYSE:MPX Insider Trading February 1st 19
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If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Insiders own 12% of Marine Products shares, worth about US$56m. 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 Marine Products Insiders?

The fact that there have been no Marine Products insider transactions recently certainly doesn’t bother us. We don’t take much encouragement from the transactions by Marine Products insiders. But it’s good to see that insiders own shares in the company. 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.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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 [email protected].