Favourable Signals For Chemung Financial: Numerous Insiders Acquired Stock
Usually, when one insider buys stock, it might not be a monumental event. But when multiple insiders are buying like they did in the case of Chemung Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CHMG), that sends out a positive message to the company's shareholders.
Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.
See our latest analysis for Chemung Financial
Chemung Financial Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Executive VP & Chief Information Officer Loren Cole bought US$97k worth of shares at a price of US$34.77 per share. We do like to see buying, but this purchase was made at well below the current price of US$49.40. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.
In the last twelve months insiders purchased 4.43k shares for US$166k. But insiders sold 1.91k shares worth US$89k. In total, Chemung Financial insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!
There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).
Insider Ownership
I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Chemung Financial insiders own about US$47m worth of shares. That equates to 20% of the company. 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 Do The Chemung Financial Insider Transactions Indicate?
It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Chemung Financial shares in the last quarter. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Insiders do have a stake in Chemung Financial and their transactions don't cause us concern. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for Chemung Financial and we suggest you have a look.
Of course Chemung Financial 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.
