Geospace Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:GEOS) is favoured by institutional owners who hold 57% of the company
Key Insights
Significantly high institutional ownership implies Geospace Technologies' stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
52% of the business is held by the top 8 shareholders
A look at the shareholders of Geospace Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:GEOS) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 57% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.
Since institutional have access to huge amounts of capital, their market moves tend to receive a lot of scrutiny by retail or individual investors. Therefore, a good portion of institutional money invested in the company is usually a huge vote of confidence on its future.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Geospace Technologies.
View our latest analysis for Geospace Technologies
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Geospace Technologies?
Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.
We can see that Geospace Technologies 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. 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 Geospace Technologies, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Geospace Technologies is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that Gate City Capital Management, LLC is the largest shareholder with 13% of shares outstanding. With 12% and 6.4% of the shares outstanding respectively, Disciplined Growth Investors, Inc. and Tieton Capital Management, LLC are the second and third largest shareholders. Furthermore, CEO Walter Wheeler is the owner of 0.8% of the company's shares.
On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 8 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.
While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.
Insider Ownership Of Geospace Technologies
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.
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.
Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Geospace Technologies Corporation. As individuals, the insiders collectively own US$8.6m worth of the US$111m company. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board, though we generally prefer to see bigger insider holdings. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 35% stake in Geospace Technologies. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Geospace Technologies better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Geospace Technologies that you should be aware of before investing here.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.
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.
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