Anyone interested in Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV) should probably be aware that the COO & Senior VP, Airton Hentschke, recently divested US$225k worth of shares in the company, at an average price of US$51.52 each.    However, the silver lining is that the sale only reduced their total holding by 7.6%, so we're hesitant to read anything much into it, on its own.    

See our latest analysis for Universal

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Universal

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Executive VP & Sales Director of Universal Leaf Tobacco Company Inc, Theodore Broome, sold US$267k worth of shares at a price of US$53.45 per share.    So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even  slightly  below the current price of US$53.81.  We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable.  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.   It is worth noting that this sale was only 27% of Theodore Broome's holding.    

Insiders in Universal didn't buy any shares in the last year.    You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below.  By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

NYSE:UVV Insider Trading Volume November 16th 2023

I will like Universal better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

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.  A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests.   Insiders own 1.8% of Universal shares, worth about US$24m.  We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.  

So What Do The Universal Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insiders haven't  bought Universal 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.    On the plus side, Universal makes money, and is growing profits.    While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling.  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 2 warning signs for Universal and we suggest you have a look.  

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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.