Anyone interested in Caleres, Inc. (NYSE:CAL) should probably be aware that the Senior VP & Chief Accounting Officer, Todd Hasty, recently divested US$176k worth of shares in the company, at an average price of US$31.50 each. That sale was 20% of their holding, so it does make us raise an eyebrow.

Check out our latest analysis for Caleres

Caleres Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Chief Human Resources Officer, Douglas Koch, sold US$345k worth of shares at a price of US$27.93 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$28.77. 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. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. This single sale was just 16% of Douglas Koch's stake.

Insiders in Caleres didn't buy any shares in the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

I will like Caleres 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

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Caleres insiders own about US$51m worth of shares. That equates to 5.0% of the company. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Caleres Insiders?

An insider hasn't bought Caleres 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. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for Caleres you should be aware of.

But note: Caleres 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.