Tennant Company (NYSE:TNC) shareholders (or potential shareholders) will be happy to see that the Independent Chairman of Board, Donal Mulligan, recently bought a whopping US$539k worth of stock, at a price of US$67.34. Not only is that a big swing, but it increased their holding size by 28%, which is definitely great to see.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Tennant

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Senior VP & COO, Richard Zay, sold US$605k worth of shares at a price of US$88.02 per share. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$68.59. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it. Richard Zay was the only individual insider to sell shares in the last twelve months.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 30.26k shares worth US$1.9m. But insiders sold 10.92k shares worth US$941k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Tennant insiders. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of undervalued small cap companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Insiders own 2.4% of Tennant shares, worth about US$28m. 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 Tennant Insider Transactions Indicate?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchases. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest Tennant insiders are well aligned, and that they may think the share price is too low. While it's good to be aware of 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. At Simply Wall St, we've found that Tennant has 4 warning signs (2 are significant!) that deserve your attention before going any further with your analysis.

But note: Tennant 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.

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.