Did Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) Insiders Sell 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 before you buy or sell Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.
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, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required.
We don’t think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. For example, a Harvard University study found that ‘insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year.’
View our latest analysis for Saia
Saia Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when CEO & Director Richard O’Dell sold US$815k worth of shares at a price of US$74.39 per share. While the sale doesn’t make us feel confident, we do note it was conducted at a price well above the current share price, which is US$57.29. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.
In the last twelve months insiders netted US$2.2m for 29.92k shares sold. All up, insiders sold more shares in Saia than they bought, over the last year. The average sell price was around US$73.85. We are not joyful about insider selling. However, we do note that the average sale price was significantly higher than the current share price (which is US$57.29). You can see the insider transactions (by 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!
I will like Saia better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.
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. Insiders own 1.0% of Saia shares, worth about US$14m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it’s enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.
What Might The Insider Transactions At Saia Tell Us?
The fact that there have been no Saia insider transactions recently certainly doesn’t bother us. Our analysis of Saia insider transactions leaves us cautious. The modest level of insider ownership is, at least, some comfort. Of course, the future is what matters most. So if you are interested in Saia, you should check out this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
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.
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.
