American Campus Communities, Inc. (NYSE:ACC) shareholders (or potential shareholders) will be happy to see that the Independent Director, John Rippel, recently bought a whopping US$520k worth of stock, at a price of US$52.00. Aside from being a solid chunk in its own right, the deft move also saw their holding increase by some 24%.
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At American Campus Communities
The insider, James Hopke, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$694k worth of shares at a price of US$45.50 each. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$50.72. 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 11% of James Hopke's stake.
In total, American Campus Communities insiders sold more 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!
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Insider Ownership
I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 0.6% of American Campus Communities shares, worth about US$42m. 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 American Campus Communities Insider Transactions Indicate?
It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchase. However, the longer term transactions are not so encouraging. The more recent transactions are a positive, but American Campus Communities insiders haven't shown the sustained enthusiasm that we look for, although they do own a decent number of shares, overall. In short they are likely aligned with shareholders. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing American Campus Communities. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for American Campus Communities (1 is potentially serious) you should be aware of.
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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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