Ensign Energy Services Inc.'s (TSE:ESI) largest shareholders are retail investors with 59% ownership, insiders own 27%
Key Insights
Ensign Energy Services' significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
41% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
If you want to know who really controls Ensign Energy Services Inc. (TSE:ESI), 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 59% 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 individual insiders on the other hand have a 27% ownership in the company. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Ensign Energy Services.
Check out our latest analysis for Ensign Energy Services
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Ensign Energy Services?
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.
We can see that Ensign Energy Services does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Ensign Energy Services' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
Hedge funds don't have many shares in Ensign Energy Services. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Norman Edwards with 23% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 4.3% and 2.5%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Additionally, the company's CEO Robert Geddes directly holds 0.9% of the total shares outstanding.
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.
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. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.
Insider Ownership Of Ensign Energy Services
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.
Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.
It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Ensign Energy Services Inc.. Insiders own CA$103m worth of shares in the CA$382m company. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.
General Public Ownership
The general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, collectively holds 59% of Ensign Energy Services shares. 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.
Private Company Ownership
It seems that Private Companies own 5.9%, of the Ensign Energy Services stock. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.
Next Steps:
While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Ensign Energy Services .
If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.
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.
