Despite Hitting US$3.41, Seritage Growth Properties Insiders Still Sold Too Soon

Seritage Growth Properties' (NYSE:SRG) value has fallen 18% in the last week, but insiders who sold US$284k worth of stock over the last year have had less success. Insiders would probably have been better off holding on to their shares given that the average selling price of US$4.44 is still lower than the current share price.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Seritage Growth Properties

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the insider, Edward Lampert, for US$284k worth of shares, at about US$4.50 per share. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$3.41. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it. Edward Lampert was the only individual insider to sell over the last year.

The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

View our latest analysis for Seritage Growth Properties

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Seritage Growth Properties Insiders Are Selling The Stock

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider selling at Seritage Growth Properties. Specifically, insider Edward Lampert ditched US$284k 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 insiders think that the shares are a bargain.

Does Seritage Growth Properties Boast High 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. It appears that Seritage Growth Properties insiders own 29% of the company, worth about US$56m. 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 Does This Data Suggest About Seritage Growth Properties Insiders?

An insider hasn't bought Seritage Growth Properties stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. We'd practice some caution before buying! So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. Our analysis shows 2 warning signs for Seritage Growth Properties (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) and we strongly recommend you look at them before investing.

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