Both individual investors who control a good portion of Marathon Gold Corporation (TSE:MOZ) along with institutions must be dismayed after last week's 11% decrease
Key Insights
Significant control over Marathon Gold by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 40% ownership
A look at the shareholders of Marathon Gold Corporation (TSE:MOZ) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 59% to be precise, is individual investors. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.
While institutions, who own 40% shares weren’t spared from last week’s CA$24m market cap drop, individual investors as a group suffered the maximum losses
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Marathon Gold.
See our latest analysis for Marathon Gold
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Marathon Gold?
Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.
Marathon Gold already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Marathon Gold's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
Hedge funds don't have many shares in Marathon Gold. The company's largest shareholder is BlackRock, Inc., with ownership of 7.1%. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 6.2% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 5.3% by the third-largest shareholder.
A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.
Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.
Insider Ownership Of Marathon Gold
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.
Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.
Our information suggests that Marathon Gold Corporation insiders own under 1% of the company. It seems the board members have no more than CA$1.8m worth of shares in the CA$201m company. Many investors in smaller companies prefer to see the board more heavily invested. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public -- including retail investors -- own 59% of Marathon Gold. With this amount of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to vote on acquisitions or mergers that may not improve profitability.
Next Steps:
I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Marathon Gold that you should be aware of before investing here.
If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
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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.
