Stellar Bancorp Insiders Placed Bullish Bets Worth US$4.50m
In the last year, multiple insiders have substantially increased their holdings of Stellar Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:STEL) stock, indicating that insiders' optimism about the company's prospects has increased.
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.
View our latest analysis for Stellar Bancorp
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Stellar Bancorp
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Independent Director Joe Penland for US$1.6m worth of shares, at about US$21.79 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price, which is US$21.97. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. While we always like to see insider buying, it's less meaningful if the purchases were made at much lower prices, as the opportunity they saw may have passed. Happily, the Stellar Bancorp insiders decided to buy shares at close to current prices.
Stellar Bancorp insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and 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!
Stellar Bancorp is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
Does Stellar Bancorp Boast High 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. Stellar Bancorp insiders own 13% of the company, currently worth about US$152m based on the recent share price. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.
So What Do The Stellar Bancorp Insider Transactions Indicate?
The fact that there have been no Stellar Bancorp insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. With high insider ownership and encouraging transactions, it seems like Stellar Bancorp insiders think the business has merit. 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. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Stellar Bancorp you should be aware of.
Of course Stellar Bancorp 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.
