We'd be surprised if SunOpta Inc. (NASDAQ:STKL) shareholders haven't noticed that the Senior Vice President of R&D, Bryan Clark, recently sold US$255k worth of stock at US$6.04 per share. In particular, we note that the sale equated to a 57% reduction in their position size, which doesn't exactly instill confidence.

SunOpta Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the insider, Joseph Ennen, for US$1.0m worth of shares, at about US$6.98 per share. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$5.75). So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.

Over the last year we saw more insider selling of SunOpta shares, than buying. 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!

For those who like to find hidden gems this free list of small cap companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. SunOpta insiders own about US$17m worth of shares. That equates to 2.4% of the company. 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 SunOpta Insider Transactions Indicate?

An insider sold SunOpta shares recently, but they didn't buy any. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. We'd practice some caution before buying! So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for SunOpta you should be aware of.

But note: SunOpta 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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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.