Anyone interested in SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) should probably be aware that the Independent Director, John Presley, recently divested US$191k worth of shares in the company, at an average price of US$25.50 each. That sale was 11% of their holding, so it does make us raise an eyebrow.

View our latest analysis for SmartFinancial

SmartFinancial Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent sale by John Presley is the biggest insider sale of SmartFinancial shares that we've seen in the last year. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$26.15. When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent valuation. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. We note that the biggest single sale was only 11%of John Presley's holding.

John Presley ditched 15.00k shares over the year. The average price per share was US$25.72. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

I will like SmartFinancial 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. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. SmartFinancial insiders own about US$67m worth of shares. That equates to 15% 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.

What Might The Insider Transactions At SmartFinancial Tell Us?

An insider sold SmartFinancial 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. 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. You'd be interested to know, that we found 2 warning signs for SmartFinancial and we suggest you have a look.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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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