This Insider Has Just Sold Shares In Sierra Bancorp

We'd be surprised if Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) shareholders haven't noticed that the Independent Director, Lynda Scearcy, recently sold US$248k worth of stock at US$42.34 per share. The eyebrow raising move amounted to a reduction of 14% in their holding.

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Sierra Bancorp Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Executive VP & Chief Credit Officer, Hugh Boyle, sold US$382k worth of shares at a price of US$38.21 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$42.01. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. We note that the biggest single sale was only 31% of Hugh Boyle's holding.

All up, insiders sold more shares in Sierra Bancorp than they bought, 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!

Check out our latest analysis for Sierra Bancorp

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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. Insiders own 11% of Sierra Bancorp shares, worth about US$60m. 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 Sierra Bancorp Insiders?

Insiders haven't bought Sierra Bancorp stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. But since Sierra Bancorp is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. 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. For example - Sierra Bancorp has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

But note: Sierra Bancorp 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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