We wouldn't blame Teekay Tankers Ltd. (NYSE:TNK) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Rohit Kapoor, the Managing Director of Singapore & Head of Ship Management recently netted about US$569k selling shares at an average price of US$89.28. Probably the most concerning element of the whole transaction is that the disposal amounted to 75% of their entire holding.

Teekay Tankers Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent sale by Rohit Kapoor was the biggest sale of Teekay Tankers shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even slightly below the current price of US$90.82. 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. We note that the biggest single sale was 75% of Rohit Kapoor's holding.

Insiders in Teekay Tankers didn't buy any shares in the last year. 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!

I will like Teekay Tankers better if I see some big insider buys.

Insider Ownership Of Teekay Tankers

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. From looking at our data, insiders own US$4.7m worth of Teekay Tankers stock, about 0.2% of the company. We consider this fairly low insider ownership.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Teekay Tankers Tell Us?

Insiders haven't bought Teekay Tankers 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. But since Teekay Tankers is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. When you combine this with the relatively low insider ownership, we are very cautious about the stock. We'd certainly 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: Teekay Tankers 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.