We'd be surprised if Kingsway Corporation (NYSE:KWY) shareholders haven't noticed that the President, John Fitzgerald, recently sold US$104k worth of stock at US$10.37 per share. However, the silver lining is that the sale only reduced their total holding by 0.6%, so we're hesitant to read anything much into it, on its own.

Kingsway Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent sale by President John Fitzgerald was not the only time they sold Kingsway shares this year. They previously made an even bigger sale of -US$400k worth of shares at a price of US$13.32 per share. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. It's of some comfort that this sale was conducted at a price well above the current share price, which is US$10.06. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 7.14k shares for US$93k. On the other hand they divested 47.50k shares, for US$606k. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Kingsway 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!

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of small cap stocks that are not only being bought by insiders but also have attractive valuations.

Insider Ownership Of Kingsway

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that Kingsway insiders own 19% of the company, worth about US$57m. 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 Kingsway Tell Us?

The stark truth for Kingsway is that there has been more insider selling than insider buying in the last three months. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. 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.

But note: Kingsway 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.