Multiple insiders secured a larger position in Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSE:CVE) shares over the last 12 months. This is reassuring as this suggests that insiders have increased optimism about the company’s prospects.
While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.
View our latest analysis for Cenovus Energy
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Cenovus Energy
In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Executive Vice President of Natural Gas & Technical Services, Joseph Zieglgansberger, sold CA$2.6m worth of shares at a price of CA$26.00 per share. So what is clear is that an insider saw fit to sell at around the current price of CA$25.68. While we don’t usually like to see insider selling, it’s more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. In this case, the big sale took place at around the current price, so it’s not too bad (but it’s still not a positive). The only individual insider seller over the last year was Joseph Zieglgansberger.
Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid CA$7.0m for 303.19k shares. On the other hand they divested 100.30k shares, for CA$2.6m. In total, Cenovus Energy insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. They paid about CA$23.06 on average. We don’t deny that it is nice to see insiders buying stock in the company. But we must note that the investments were made at well below today’s share price. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!
There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.
Insider Ownership Of Cenovus Energy
Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 0.2% of Cenovus Energy shares, worth about CA$97m. 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 Cenovus Energy Tell Us?
The fact that there have been no Cenovus Energy insider transactions recently certainly doesn’t bother us. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Overall we don’t see anything to make us think Cenovus Energy insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it’s also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. At Simply Wall St, we found 1 warning sign for Cenovus Energy that deserve your attention before buying any shares.
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, but not derivative transactions.
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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.
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