Need To Know: National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN) Insiders Have Been Selling 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 National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.
Do Insider Transactions Matter?
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 logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares. As Peter Lynch said, ‘insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise.’
See our latest analysis for National Retail Properties
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At National Retail Properties
President Julian Whitehurst made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$1.2m worth of shares at a price of US$46.06 each. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$49.74). Even though it doesn’t necessarily mean anything, that’s certainly not a positive sign, in our book. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling on market, especially if they did so below the current price. Please note, however, that this single sale was just 7.4% of Julian Whitehurst’s stake.
Over the last year, we note insiders sold 160.07k shares worth US$6.9m. In total, National Retail Properties insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. The sellers received a price of around US$43.37, on average. It’s not ideal to see that insiders have sold at around the current price. Since insiders sell for many reasons, we wouldn’t put too much weight on it. The chart below shows insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).
National Retail Properties Insiders Are Selling The Stock
The last three months saw significant insider selling at National Retail Properties. In total, insiders dumped US$975k 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.
Insider Ownership
For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. National Retail Properties insiders own about US$47m worth of shares. That equates to 0.6% 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 National Retail Properties Insider Transactions Indicate?
Insiders haven’t bought National Retail Properties stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And there weren’t any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. On the plus side, National Retail Properties makes money, and is growing profits. Insider ownership isn’t particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. So we’d only buy after careful consideration. Therefore, you should should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for National Retail Properties.
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 editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
