CES Energy Solutions Corp. (TSE:CEU) most popular amongst retail investors who own 58% of the shares, institutions hold 38%
Key Insights
Significant control over CES Energy Solutions by retail 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
If you want to know who really controls CES Energy Solutions Corp. (TSE:CEU), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 58% to be precise, is retail investors. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
And institutions on the other hand have a 38% ownership in the company. Insiders often own a large chunk of younger, smaller, companies while huge companies tend to have institutions as shareholders.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about CES Energy Solutions.
View our latest analysis for CES Energy Solutions
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About CES Energy Solutions?
Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.
As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in CES Energy Solutions. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of CES Energy Solutions, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
CES Energy Solutions is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is EdgePoint Investment Group Inc., with ownership of 20%. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 7.9% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.4% by the third-largest shareholder. Additionally, the company's CEO Kenneth Zinger directly holds 0.8% of the total shares outstanding.
Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.
While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of CES Energy Solutions
The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. 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 most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in CES Energy Solutions Corp.. It has a market capitalization of just CA$884m, and insiders have CA$34m worth of shares, in their own names. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a substantial 58% stake in CES Energy Solutions, suggesting it is a fairly popular stock. This level of ownership gives investors from the wider public some power to sway key policy decisions such as board composition, executive compensation, and the dividend payout ratio.
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. Be aware that CES Energy Solutions is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...
Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
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.
