Don't Ignore The Insider Selling In OneSpaWorld Holdings

Some OneSpaWorld Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:OSW) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Independent Director, Andrew Heyer, recently sold a substantial US$1.5m worth of stock at a price of US$30.52 per share. However, that sale only accounted for 7.4% of their holding, so arguably it doesn't say much about their conviction.

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OneSpaWorld Holdings Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The CEO & Executive Chairman, Leonard Fluxman, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$2.2m worth of shares at a price of US$24.07 each. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$31.13). 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. This single sale was just 7.3% of Leonard Fluxman's stake.

OneSpaWorld Holdings insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

View our latest analysis for OneSpaWorld Holdings

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Insider Ownership

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. OneSpaWorld Holdings insiders own about US$76m worth of shares. That equates to 2.5% 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.

So What Do The OneSpaWorld Holdings Insider Transactions Indicate?

An insider hasn't bought OneSpaWorld Holdings 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. But since OneSpaWorld Holdings is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. We're in no rush to buy! 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. For example - OneSpaWorld Holdings has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

But note: OneSpaWorld Holdings 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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