We’ve lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. Unfortunately,oci checklist for adults there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So we’ll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in

Citizens First Corporation

(

NASDAQ:CZFC

).

Do Insider Transactions Matter?

It’s quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required.

We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. For example, a Harvard University

study

found that ‘insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year.’

See our latest analysis for Citizens First

Citizens First Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Jeff Perkins bought US$67k worth of shares at a price of US$24.48 per share. That means that even when the share price was higher, an insider wanted to purchase shares. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company’s future. We generally consider it a positive if insiders have been buying on market, even above the current price.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$149k for 6.17k shares. But insiders sold 2.50k shares worth US$62k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Citizens First insiders. The average buy price was around US$24.20. This is nice to see since it implies that insiders might see value around current prices (around US$21.36). The chart below shows insider transactions 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!

NasdaqGM:CZFC Insider Trading January 2nd 19

I will like Citizens First better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this

free

list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Does Citizens First Boast High Insider Ownership?

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. I reckon it’s a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Citizens First insiders own 11% of the company, currently worth about US$6.2m based on the recent share price. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

Story continues

So What Does This Data Suggest About Citizens First Insiders?

There haven’t been any insider transactions in the last three months — that doesn’t mean much. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. The transactions are fine but it’d be more encouraging if Citizens First insiders bought more shares in the company. To put this in context, take a look at how a company has performed in the past. You can access

this

detailed graph

of past earnings, revenue and cash flow

.

Of course

Citizens First may not be the best stock to buy

. So you may wish to see this

free

collection of high quality companies.

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.

The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at

[email protected]

.

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