This Insider Has Just Sold Shares In Covista

We wouldn't blame Covista Inc. (NYSE:CVSA) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Stephen Beard, the CEO & Chairman recently netted about US$702k selling shares at an average price of US$133. However, it's crucial to note that they remain very much invested in the stock and that sale only reduced their holding by 1.5%.

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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Covista

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Lead Independent Director Michael Malafronte bought US$3.6m worth of shares at a price of US$101 per share. We do like to see buying, but this purchase was made at well below the current price of US$116. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$3.9m for 38.74k shares. But insiders sold 100.49k shares worth US$13m. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Covista shares, than buying. 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!

See our latest analysis for Covista

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).

Insider Ownership Of Covista

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Covista insiders own about US$94m worth of shares. That equates to 2.4% 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.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Covista Tell Us?

Insiders sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. But it is good to see that Covista is growing earnings. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. We're in no rush to buy! So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for Covista and we suggest you have a look.

But note: Covista may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

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.